Akpan Umoh

The Judicial Panel of Investigation on Incidences of Police Brutality in Akwa Ibom State has struck out petiton filed against Mr Onofiok Luke, lawmaker representing Etinan Federal Constituency in the National Assembly.

Luke, who is the former Speaker of the Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly, was accused of breaching the fundamental human rights of the petitioner, Dr David Udo.

Udo had filed the petition against Luke on November 15, 2020 and prayed the panel to open an investigation into the allegation.

That security operatives attached to the then Speaker of the State House of Assembly breached his fundamental human rights in 2017.

During the hearing on Wednesday in Uyo, counsel to Luke, Mr Ekemini Udim, filed a notice of objection, stating that the panel had no power to entertain the petition.

Udim argued that the subject matter of the petition had already been decided upon and dismissed by the Federal High Court in its judgment delivered on January 15, 2018.

According to him, the panel had no jurisdiction to sit over a matter that had already been decided and dismissed by a court of competent jurisdiction.

He added that the petitioner has a pending appeal at the Court of Appeal in Calabar against the judgment of the Federal High Court on the matter.

The counsel added that the panel could not investigate a petition whose subject matter was at the same time pending before the Court of Appeal.

He said that the suit at the Federal High Court under reference was filed on the petitioner’s behalf by Mr Inibehe Effiong of Inibehe Effiong Chambers.

He added that the complaint in the said suit was the same as the complaint in the petition before the panel.

The chairman of the panel, Justice Ifiok Ukana, in his ruling agreed with the submissions of Udim, counsel to the defendant, and struck out the petition.