An Ogun
State High Court sitting in Ipokia local government area of the state yesterday
declared the imposition of curfew on residents of Ipokia by organisers of
Oro
festival in day time as illegal.
The court
also declared that Oro festival, which is always associated with rituals could
only be celebrated between 12:00a.m. and 4:00a.m. in the midnight so as to
maintain peace. During the celebration, all residents in the affected towns or
cities are forced to stay indoors until the celebration ends.
Justice
Sikiru Owodunni in his judgment in a suit filed by the Christian Association of
Nigeria (CAN) and Muslim community in Ipokia against organisers of the
festival, ordered that Oro festival worshippers have no constitutional
authority to impose curfew on residents of Ipokia, Idi-Iroko, Ihunbo,
Ifonyintedo, Ogosa, Koko, Ilashe, Ibatefin, Agosasa, Oniru, Mede and Ajegunle
and other villages in the area.
The
applicants’ lawyers, Kayode Samson and David Folalu, had told the court that
during the celebration, neither man nor woman who does not belong to the cult
is permitted to come out.
Samson said:
“When the festival is on, residents who do not belong to the cult are compelled
to stay indoors, while businesses, churches, mosques, government agencies,
schools and public places are also compelled to be closed down, thereby,
depriving the applicants of their freedom of movements and lawful assembly.”
The judge
ordered “perpetual injunction restraining the respondents, their privies,
agents and cohorts from declaring or imposing a daytime curfew or in any manner
interfere with the fundamental rights of the applicants to their freedom of
movements.”
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