The state court, under the jurisdiction of Justice Tertsea Kume, has scheduled October 30, 2023, for the hearing of a N5 billion lawsuit filed by Emmanuel Viashima against the Governor of Benue State.
Named as defendants in the suit are the Commissioner of Police, Benue State, the Benue State Government, the Benue State Attorney General, and the Benue State Asset Recovery Committee Chairman, Mr. Hinga Biem.
Emmanuel Viashima is the Chief Executive Officer of London Line Transport Company Limited, where 32 vehicles were seized by the state government’s Asset Recovery Committee. This committee was established to recover all alleged stolen property belonging to the state government during the previous administration.
The CEO is also contesting the intrusion into his residence at David Mark Bye-Pass in Makurdi on July 17th, 2023. During this incident, the state’s Asset Recovery Committee confiscated two of his vehicles.
During the hearing, Chief Viashima’s counsel, Andrew Wombo, informed the court of their readiness to proceed with the matter.
The Attorney General of Benue State’s counsel, E.T. Nyityo, requested an adjournment, citing a late notice of the hearing served on them at 03:21 PM the previous day.
Wombo opposed the application for adjournment, stating that the main suit had been served on the respondent on September 14, 2023. According to him, the hearing notice timing was irrelevant, as the respondents had failed to file any response to the main suit. He pointed out that, under Order 14, Rule 2 of the Fundamental Right Enforcement Rule, 1999, the time allowed for the respondents to file their reply to the main suit had already lapsed.
Wombo urged the court to dismiss the application for adjournment.
Justice Tertsea Kume granted a short adjournment and set the hearing for the main suit on Monday, October 30, 2023. He also ordered that a hearing notice be served on the other respondents (the Governor of Benue State, Benue State Government, and the Commissioner of Police), who were not present in court.
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