The Federal High Court in Lagos has fixed 15 June for hearing on the N5 billion suit instituted against the Lagos state government by three suspects discharged by a state High Court of complicity in the murder of Pa Alfred Rewane in 1995.

The plaintiffs, Lucky Igbinovia, Effiong Elemu and Elvis Erenuwa, had dragged the Lagos state government and the police to court asking for compensation over their incarceration for 15 years before the court set them free last year.

The trio were arrested in 1995 and charged alongside four others, who have died in prison, in 1995 for alleged complicity in the killing of the elder statesman, Pa Rewane.

Sylvester Iyasele, Saturday Egbeide, Ola Obanuso, and Sunday Obanobi all died while in prison.

The remaining trio were however discharged by the Lagos state High Court last year owing to lack of diligent prosecution.

The case was adjourned over 250 times.

According to the judge, “It appears to me that all the police did was to visit the scene of the crime, arrest workers and take them into custody,” Justice Olusola Williams, said on January 17 while discharging three of the seven suspects.

After regaining their freedom, the plaintiffs approached the court praying it to declare that “the roles played by the government for over 15 years were oppressive, wicked, malicious, an abuse of powers and outrageous disregard of the law.”

To this end, they asked the presiding judge, Justice Charles Archibong to award a punitive and exemplary damages of N5 billion against the police, the Lagos state government and the state attorney-general jointly and severally in their favour.

The plaintiffs in their action also asked for general damages of N1 billion jointly and severally against the defendants.

They averred that until Justice Williams of the state high court released them from detention on January 17, 2011, “as a result of the unlawful arrest and unsubstantiated legal advice given by the DPP”, they were kept behind bars in spite of their efforts to secure bail which was vehemently opposed by the state.

However, the state government in its counter affidavit has asked the court to strike out the action on the ground that it is frivolous & discloses no reasonable cause of action

The government said there was enough evidence against the applicants while their trial lasted but the case was frustrated owing to the relocation of majority of their witnesses, which made “it difficult to locate them and the case had to suffer several adjournments.”

The state also argued that the changes of judges hearing the case also caused the delay in trial which eventually led to the trial court’s decision to strike out the case