Court fixes February 9 to rule on ex-NSA's detention

dimeji akinloye

February 4, 2016 9:49 PM

He said given that the federal government has been in contempt of the court, it should not lawfully prosecute Dasuki

Sambo Dasuki (right) and one of his counsels.

The federal high court in Abuja has fixed next week Monday, February 8, to decide on the trial of former national security adviser (NSA),

Justice Hussein Baba-Yusuf, according to PRNigeria, set the date after Joseph Daodu (SAN), counsel to Dasuki, and Rotimi Jacobs (SAN), counsel to the federal government, had addressed the court on a motion seeking the release of Dasuki.

Daodu asked the court to prohibit the federal government from further prosecuting him or further seeking any indulgence from the court until he was allowed to enjoy the bail granted him.

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He based his arguments on the fact that Justice Yusuf had granted the defendant bail on December 18, 2015; and after perfecting the bail conditions, he was rearrested allegedly on the orders of the federal government and was taken to the custody of the Department of the State Services (DSS).

He said since Dasuki's rearrest on December 29, the DSS had refused to let his lawyers and family members have access to him.

Daodu therefore urged the court to compel the federal government to obey the bail conditions granted Dasuki and allow him to enjoy his freedom in line with the law that presumed him innocent until he was proved guilty.

“Judges must assert the efficacy of their orders,” he said.

In his counter argument, counsel to the federal government, Jacobs, informed the judge that the motion was an abuse of the court process because there was no evidence placed before the court that the accused was rearrested by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

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Jacobs, who said he was representing EFCC in the case, disclosed that it was the DSS that rearrested Dasuki. He advised Dasuki to evoke section 46 of the constitution and institute a civil action to challenge his arrest and enforce his fundamental right to his liberty.

dimeji akinloye