A cost has been awarded against Mrs. Folashade Samuels by a Federal High Court in Lagos in connection to the legal proceedings initiated by Blessing Okoro against the Inspector General of Police and others regarding her alleged wrongful detention in 2022.
Blessing Okoro, a renowned relationship expert also known as Blessing CEO, filed a fundamental human rights enforcement suit in February, seeking N75 million in damages for her purported illegal detention, which she claimed was orchestrated by Mrs. Samuels to publicly shame her.
In the lawsuit presented by her attorney, Mr. Prince Nwafuru, Blessing Okoro contested the legality of her arrest by the police on December 15, 2022. This arrest stemmed from a second petition by Mrs. Samuels, despite Okoro having been previously granted administrative bail by the same police force in response to an earlier complaint by the same complainant.
Okoro argued that the second petition leading to her arrest was ill-conceived, based on false information, and carried out in bad faith.
She further asserted that Mrs. Samuels hastily approached the police in Abuja when she was dissatisfied that Okoro had been granted administrative bail at Panti Police Station.
In her pursuit of restraining injunctions against the police, Blessing Okoro contended that the entire incident was a deliberate attempt to embarrass her, as Mrs. Samuels was allowed by the police to take Okoro's pictures and circulate them to bloggers.
During the proceedings on November 8, Mrs. Folashade’s lawyer, Mr. H. Eromosele, informed the court that he had filed his defense out of time and sought leave to regularize it.
However, Okoro’s lawyer objected, asserting that the respondent had not paid the prescribed default fee according to the Rules of the Court.
In response to the objection, Justice A. Lewia-Allagoa awarded a cost of N50,000 against the 4th respondent, Mrs. Folashade, and adjourned the matter until December 5, 2023, for further hearing.
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