Following the ruling of the Oyo State High Court, which granted him N20 billion in damages, the Federal Government may bring a new lawsuit against Yoruba secessionist activist Sunday Adeyemo (also known as Sunday Igboho).

Abubakar Malami, the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in New York that the federal government has the option of appealing the judgment or filing a new case.

The money was given by the judge, Ladiran Akintola, as “exemplary and aggravated damages” against the AGF and the State Security Service (SSS) for the July 1 invasion of Adeyemo’s home in Ibadan.

The federal government’s position on the judgment, however, is based on “law and jurisdiction,” according to Malami.

“Which court has jurisdiction over this matter? And, as you are well aware, obedient to court orders and judgments,” he added.

“However, you must understand that there are associated rights and interests vested in the Federal Government in the context of such obedience.

“Includes the right to appeal a judgment, as well as the right to file an application to have the purported judgment and order set aside.

“And, yes, that includes the possibility of filing a new action if the jurisdiction of the court that was alleged to have handed down that judgment is in question.

“So, we are doing what we need to do in terms of looking at the law as it is and then working within the context of the law to ensure that justice is served in terms of the contending issues between the parties,” the minister explained.

NAN recalls that Igboho’s lawyer, Yomi Alliyu, SAN, had launched a N500 billion fundamental human rights enforcement suit in Oyo State against the AGF, SSS, and the SSS Director over the July 1 raid of his residence in Ibadan.

During the event, Alliyu claimed that his client’s house and cars were damaged and that two of the property’s residents were slain by SSS operatives.

However, AGF’s lawyer, Abdullah Abubakar, contended in court that there was no evidence that the blood visible in the video footage presented by Alliyu belonged to a human being.

Abubakar further claimed that nothing in the video clip indicated that the residence that was attacked belonged to Igboho or that the invasion was tied to the AGF.

Adeyemo is still detained in the Republic of Benin, where he was apprehended while attempting to flee to Germany a few weeks ago.

(NAN).