A Nigerian contractor has dragged top officials of West Africa’s foremost gas firm, the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas Limited (NLNG) and the Nigeria Police Force to court over his arrest allegedly by the NLNG last year.

The aggrieved contractor, Shedrack Ogboru, who is the Managing Director of Macobarb International Limited, took out a suit to enforce his fundamental human rights before Justice Stephen Daylop-Pam of the Federal High Court sitting in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.

The case with Suit No. FHC/PH/FHR/154/2023 was mentioned on Wednesday, July 5, 2023, at Federal High Court 4 with most of the parties to the suit in court.

Ogboru, led by his counsel, Eugene Odey, is the applicant while the respondents are listed as the NLNG, NLNG’s former Managing Director; Tony Attah, General Counsel/Company Secretary; Akachukwu Nwokedi; and Manager, Front End Development/ Technical Interface, Bayo Aderenle, as well as, the Inspector General of Police (IGP) and the Police Service Commission (PSC).

Ogboru, who has had a running legal battle with the NLNG over a N4.2Bn claim against the gas company as accumulated costs over a terminated contract, was arrested in July 2022 in Port Harcourt and flown to Abuja.

Now, the Macobarb boss says he has reason to take out an action against the NLNG because of their role in his alleged harassment, intimidation, arrest and detention, noting that that battle has been lingering for quite some time now.

Ogboru said instead of paying him the money, the NLNG has resorted to all sorts of measures which include deployment of security agencies to intimidate him.

It is for that reason that his lawyers went to court and on Wednesday, July 5, 2023, the matter was mentioned and all parties in the matter were served including the Nigeria Police Force and the Police Service Commission.

Hearing of the matter has been fixed for Tuesday, October 10, 2023, when the matter will be heard on the merit, according to the lawyers involved in the suit. 

The NLNG was represented but the other parties were not in court but all the other staffs of the NLNG that were sued, inclusive of the establishment itself, were in court on Wednesday, July 6, 2023 and represented by their counsels.

The fireworks are expected to start on Tuesday, October 10, 2023.