BREAKING NEWS, Judiciary
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THE federal government on Wednesday, October 4, said it needed to study the content of ruling before complying with the judgement of an Economic Community of West African States, ECOWAS, court to release Sambo Dasuki, a former national security adviser, Sambo Dasuki.
The ECOWAS court had on Tuesday, October 4, gave a judgement directing the release of Dasuki. But Abubakar Malami, attorney general of the federation and minister of Justice, on Wednesday, October 5, said the government would need to study the content of the ruling before acting on it.
The former NSA has been detained in the State Security Service cell since last year for allegedly mismanaging billions of dollars meant for purchase of arms as well as for illegal possession of arms.
A senior government official who does not want his name in print said government would have to study the whole judgement before taking any action on it.
The ECOWAS court, on Tuesday, October 4, ordered the release of Dasuki while describing his arrest and continued detention as unlawful and arbitrary.
A three member panel of the court led by Justice Friday Nwoke said the search conducted at Dasuki’s residence without a warrant was illegal and against Nigerian laws.
While the court said it would not go into the details of whether or not Dasuki’s alleged possession of arms were criminal, it ruled that an owner is entitled to enjoyment of its property.
The court was displeased with the manner of arrest and detention of the former NSA, saying they were contrary to article six of the African Charter on Human Rights and Article 9 (1) of the international order on civil and political rights.
“Liberty is the rule and detention is the exception,” Nwoke said adding that the deprivation of Dasuki’s liberty should only be considered if convicted by a court of law.
The court ordered the federal government to pay N15 million as damages to Dasuki.
— Oct 5, 2016 @ 14:40 GMT
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