The appellant, a Nigerian Legal Practitioner is the President of a non-governmental human rights body based in Nigeria called the Civil Liberties Organisation (C.L.O.). He claimed relief under the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1979 (the constitution) asserting that there has been a breach in several respects of his fundamental rights, particularly, to personal liberty, freedom of thought, freedom of expression and freedom of movement guaranteed respectively under section 32, 35, 36 and 38 of the Constitution.

The incident that led to the appellant's application in brief is that sometime in March, 1992, the appellant was invited by a body in The Netherlands to participate in a human rights conference to take place in The Hague, the Netherlands from 22nd to 25th April, 1992. On April 21, 1992, he proceeded to the Murtala Mohammed International Airport (the Airport) evidently with a view of travelling to The Hague. At the Airport an officer of the "Nigerian Security Services" (the Organisation) impounded his passport without giving any reasons therefor, and directed that the appellant was thus precluded from embarking on his journey to The Hague. Between April 22, 1992 and April 29, 1992 by personal visits to the office of the organisation and letters and pleas to the Attorney-General of the Federation, he made several efforts to have his passport released to him, but to no avail. On 16th July 1992, he swore to an affidavit deposing to these facts which had not been controverted and filed his application on the same day.

On July 31, 1992, the learned trial Judge, Akinboboye, J. delivered her ruling dismissing the application. Although the trial Judge accepted that pursuant to section 38 of the 1979 Constitution, the appellant has a right to move freely throughout Nigeria and should not be refused entry thereto or exit therefrom, she held that nowhere in section 38 of the 1979 Constitution or Article 12(2) of the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights (Ratification and Enforcement) Act is the issuance or possession of a passport declared as part of the constitutional right of any Nigerian citizen. The trial Judge reinforced her view that holding a Nigerian passport is only a privilege and not a right by taking judicial notice of the contents of every Nigeria passport which contains the statement that:-

"This passport remains the property of the Government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and may be withdrawn at any time".

The learned trial Judge also refused the injunction sought for the same reason as, in her view, the applicant had failed to show that he had a legal right to the passport. The learned trial Judge proceeded further to refuse the appellant's application on the procedural point that the declaration sought cannot be granted in default of "pleadings from the respondents". referring to the absence of any counter-affidavit. Page1