Rickey Tarfa Drops Suit Against EFCC and MTN, Lands Fine

Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Rickey Tarfa has dropped his lawsuit filed against the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), MTN and four others over an alleged violation of his right to privacy.

The embattled lawyer had filed to claim N5 billion from the defendants in a fundamental rights enforcement suit in Court and he withdrew his suit on Wednesday, February 24.

Tarfa filed the suit after his arrest by the EFCC on Friday, February 5 on allegations of obstructing justice by hiding two alleged suspects of the EFCC in a bid to help them evade arrest.

In his suit, the SAN requested the court to indict MTN for divulging information about his call log to the EFCC and the other defendants without a court order, which was against the right to privacy protected by Section 37 of the Constitution.

He also argued that his bank details, clients’ information, private and confidential information contained in his iPhone 6 and Samsung 6, were unlawfully accessed by the defendants.

He told the court that even though he charged the defendants for N5 billion, no amount could restore the “unquantifiable and irreparable damage done to him, his reputation, his business and his goodwill.”

However, during Wednesday’s proceedings, a lawyer from Tarfa’s chambers appeared before Justice Idris to present an ex parte application to stop the case.

The lawyer gave no reason for the withdrawal of the case by the plaintiff.

The EFCC lawyers, Wahab Shittu and Rotimi Oyedepo, who were in court, revealed that while they were not opposed to the withdrawal of the case, Tarfa had to be given a punitive fine by the court.

“My Lord, we have no objection to the discontinuance of the suit but we want the court to award a punitive cost against the applicant; our names have been flying around in the major newspapers since yesterday,” Shittu said.

After hearing from both lawyers, Justice Idris struck out the suit and ordered Tarfa to pay N10,000 to each of the defendants.