Illegal Dismissal: Civil Defence Corp Dragged To Court

Nigeria Security and Civil Defense Corps NSCDC has been dragged before a Federal High Court sitting in Abuja over an alleged illegal dismissal and seizure of uniforms of about 60 workers in its employment roll.

The dismissed workers told the court that they have not defaulted as workers in any way and were duly screened and recruited in line with the existing employment guidelines of the organization. They also joined the Minister of Interior and the Federal Ministry of Interior in the suit.

Counsel to the plaintiffs, Maxwell Opara through a 28 page paragraph affidavit severally deposed to by some of the affected persons, Entonu Oyigucho, Andrew Adikwu, and Ijimbili John told the court before Justice Ibrahim Auta that they were severally asked by respective State Command to visit the Headquarters in Abuja but all proved abortive as they were sent back to their State Commands.

In view of the above, the plaintiffs are asking the court for a “mandatory injunction against the defendants jointly and severally to pay all the plaintiffs their arrears of salaries and other entitlements from 25th July 2008 till when defendants create a conducive atmosphere for plaintiffs to resume duties.

And also for an order of mandatory injunction against the 1st defendant to immediately release the respective plaintiffs’ official properties namely: uniforms, berets & ID cards, unlawfully cum illegally withheld by the 1st defendant so as to enable the plaintiffs immediately resume duty at their respective State Commands.

In the same manner, they prayed the court to declare “that the plaintiffs are within the law in essential services in the public sector and which employment cannot be arbitrarily halted to plaintiffs’ prejudice by withholding of salaries nor seizure of official properties without strict recourse to provisions of the law regulating misconducts and dismissals as per the Nigerian Security and Civil Defense Corps”.

Similarly, they asked the court to hold that the plaintiffs’ employment/appointment was never at any time terminated and there are still entitled to their rights and privileges as bona fide staff of the organization just as the demand from the court stated that the workers are of the permanent staff category whose employment cannot be arbitrarily terminated.

But in its notice of preliminary objection to the originating summons, counsel to NSCDC, Babatunde Alajogun said that the suit was not brought “by the due process of law as the action was brought outside the statutory time limit”.

For this reason, Alajogun prayed the court to hold that the action “constitute an abuse of court process as the rules applicable to originating process used in the commencement of the suit was not adhered to as laid down under the Federal High Court Civil Procedure Rules 2009”.

In addition, he asked the court to out the suit saying that the originating summons employed by the plaintiffs in initiating this suit is inappropriate as there are contentious issues to be addressed before the court.

The court has adjourned the matter to December 1, 2010.

By Nnamdi Felix /Abuja

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