Pyrates Confraternity not a Secret Cult, Rivers Court Rules

February 5, 2020October 21, 2020 Mary

By Chuks Onwudinjo

For the second time, a Rivers State High Court has delivered judgement in favour of the National Association of Seadogs, Pyrates Confraternity, affirming that the group is not a secret cult.

Following the prayers of the appellant and the respondents in the suit, the sitting judge on the case, Justice A. Enebeli, ordered that the association’s name be delisted from the schedule of Rivers State Secret Cult and similar activities (prohibition) Amendment law of 2018

In a suit filed before Justice Enebeli of Rivers State High Court by the trustees of the National Association of Seadogs registered with the corporate Affairs Commission since 1980 with registration number CAC/IT/NO. 1592, against the Rivers State House of Assembly with the Rivers state government, the Attorney General of the state joined as respondents, for listing the association as number 63 in the schedule of Rivers State Secret Cult and similar activities (prohibition) Amendment law of 2018, Justice Enebeli ruled that the respondents ought not to have included the name of the group in the amendment act of 2018 in deference to an earlier judgment in Suit NO PHGC/1701/2005 between the association and Attorney General of the state delivered on 25th May 2009, in which ruling was given in favour of the Association by Justice P.N.C Agumagu of Rivers State High Court.

The association had in 2005, challenged its listing as a secret cult in the Rivers State Secret Cult and Similar Activities (Prohibition) Law No.6 of same year seeking among others, the court’s interpretation of the definition of secret cult as contained in section 16 of the law, a determination of whether the defendants – Attorney-General of Rivers State(1st), the Government of Rivers State (2nd) and Rivers State House of Assembly (3rd) – could validly legislate on matters pertaining to or connected with the Companies and Allied Matters Act, Cap C20 laws of the federation of Nigeria and also to determine the Secret Cult and Similar Activities (Prohibition) Law to the extent that it proscribed the Association’s activities and whether the action did not infringe on the fundamental rights of the body as guaranteed under the 1999 Constitution.

In that judgement that sifted the chaff from the wheat, the court’s decision became a landmark judgment in determining how legal entities and traditional institutions are easily labeled and stereotyped as cults in the country. Of note however, is the fact that the court, through it processes, availed the defendants ample opportunities to prove beyond reasonable doubt, its obfuscatory submission of NAS being a secret cult, but failed.

It was therefore based on this earlier judgement that Enebeli frowned on the House of Assembly for showing contempt for the earlier court ruling by again including the name of the association in its 2018 amendment.

The eminent jurist, ordered that the association’s name be delisted from the state schedule. He also gave an order of ‘perpetual injunction’ restraining the respondents in the suit from listing the name of the association in subsequent amendments by the government of the state.

He added that the respondents or any of its agents are also prohibited from interfering in the activities of seadogs or confiscating any property that belongs to the group in Rivers State.

Reacting to the court ruling, the leader of the Association with presence in countries in five continents of the world, Kwabunde Gbahabo, Esq. hailed the judgement as a victory against preconceived notions and stereotyping stating that any democracy that does not uphold the rule law is surely headed toward immolation.

He said “The rule of law cannot be negotiated and people who make laws must be seen to also obey the law. In our organisation, we say that justice must always be the first condition of our congregating ethos.”

The chief legal officer of the association Barrister Dare Osinoiki hailed the judgement as an affirmation of the rights of any Nigerian to freely associate within the ambit of the law.

The association has contributed a lot towards the development of the country. The Road watch initiative of the association in then Oyo State under the leadership of Late Bola Ige, led to the establishment of the Federal Road Safety Commission. The role played by the orgainasation in partnership with the Darfur Coalition remains a major credit to this day.

Even in faraway city of Oakland, Northern Califonia, USA. In a move championed by a member of then US congress, Barbara Lee, and signed by council member, Desley A. Brooks, they pronounced February 14 of every year as National Association of Seadogs Day, in the city. In reporting the story, The Guardian of Nigeria wrote:“ for its contributions to ‘social development stability and prosperity’ of the city, the Oakland, Northern California, United States, chapter of the National Association of Seadogs, NAS, has been issued a ‘certificate of special recognition’ by a member of the US congress”. Brooks enthused that NAS, which has evolved from a campus fraternity, has grown to become an international organisation with chapters around the world. In her words “its goals as enshrined in the Pyratical Creed remains the pursuit of a just and egalitarian society, in which the strong protects the weak and all have equal access to opportunity for the realisation of each person’s potential. Its membership includes community leaders, professional businessmen, informed and active citizens.”

In 2003 and 2011, as part of its contribution to the growth and sustenance of democracy in Nigeria the organization was granted election monitoring status by the independent National Electoral Commission, INEC and the group also collaborated with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Under the anti-fraud body’s public anti-corruption drive termed ‘Fix Nigeria Initiative.’