ECOWAS court orders FG to release former NSA

The Court of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has ordered the Nigerian government to release former National Security Adviser (NSA), Sambo Dasuki.

A three-member panel of the ECOWAS court, led by Justice Friday Nwoke, also described Dasuki’s arrest and detention as unlawful and arbitrary.

The court gave the ruling on Tuesday, October 4, 2016, adding that the re-arrest of Dasuki after he was granted bail amounts to a mockery of democracy and the rule of law.

It also ordered the Federal Government to pay the sum of N15 million as damages to Dasuki.

Dasuki has been accused of fraud by the Nigerian government and is alleged to have supervised the laundering of $2.1 billion meant for the purchase of arms for Nigeria’s fight against Boko Haram.

He was initially arrested by the Department of State Services on December 1, 2015 and handed over to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) the following day.

Dasuki was subsequently released on bail by an Abuja High Court on December 18, but was rearrested by the DSS after his release from the Kuje Prison in Abujaand has been in custody since then.

President Muhammadu Buhari had ordered the arrest of Dasuki and others indicted in the alleged fraud after receiving a report submitted by a panel instituted by him to probe Nigeria’s arms purchases from 2007-2015.

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Dasuki's homes in Sokoto and Abuja were raided by agents of the DSS and he was subsequently charged with money laundering and illegal possession of weapons.

The former NSA has pleaded not guilty to the charges levelled against him.