The Liquefied Petroleum Gas Retailers Association, LPGARAN, has instituted a N5 million suit against National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers, NUPENG; parent body of Nigeria Domestic and Gas Retailers and Materials, NDGRAM; Administrator of Kick Against Indiscipline, KAI and five others before a Federal High Court sitting in Lagos.
The Liquefied Petroleum Gas Retailers Association, LPGARAN, has instituted a N5 million suit against National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers, NUPENG; parent body of Nigeria Domestic and Gas Retailers and Materials, NDGRAM; Administrator of Kick Against Indiscipline, KAI and five others before a Federal High Court sitting in Lagos.
The other claimants are Emeka Okechukwu, Sunday Umeh and Abayomi Morooph, while respondents are Monday Nwatu, Chijioke Ogbuka, Attorney General of Lagos State, Deputy Commissioner of Police in charge of Investigation in Alagbon and the investigating Police office, Force Criminal Investigation Department, Alagbon.
The claimants are praying the court to declare that the seizure of gas cylinders of the members of the first applicant by the first to fourth respondents in their quest to force members of the first applicant to join their association against their wishes is unconstitutional, illegal, wrongful, null and void.
They also want the court to declare that the arrest and detention of the applicants by the Deputy Commissioner of Police and Investigating Police officers in Alagbon, respectively, on the pretext of investigating the allegation of threat to life of some of the respondents, is unconstitutional, illegal, wrongful and constitutes gross and violent violation of the applicants fundamental right to liberty enshrined in Section 36 of the 1999 Constitution.
LPGARAN in an affidavit deposed to by Umudu, averred that in 2011, NDGRM executives were harassing and beating up their members in their effort to force them into their association, as some of them were arrested by Area G Police Command, Ogba, Lagos, upon which they wrote an undertaking not to repeat same anymore.
He averred that the first respondent began to connive with KAI in 2013 to intimidate his members, as "in 2013 they started conniving with some KAI officials to extort, intimidate and force our members and other gas retailers to join their group.
"The first incident that attracted our attention happened in the mid-December 2013 when KAI embarked on a selective raiding of LPGARAN members in Amuwo Odofin, Lagos, in the name of enforcing environmental laws."
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