As lawyers flay FG on continued detention

With former National Security Adviser (NSA) Col. Sambo Dasuki (rtd) securing his ninth bail since his first arraignment in 2015, his lawyer said they were only hopeful he would be released from custody this time.

This is even as senior lawyers harp on the impact of the ex-NSA’s continued detention on democracy despite several court orders.

While five different judges had at different times ordered the release of the Sokoto prince, the order on Monday by Justice Ijeoma Ojukwu of the Federal High Court in Abuja was more specific because this was the first time the detaining agency, the Department of Security Services (DSS) made input in the process leading to the order, said Dasuki’s lawyer, Ahmed Raji (SAN).

Raji told Daily Trust, “We are hopeful that they will obey because this is the first fundamental human rights case he (Dasuki) has filed in a domestic court and this order is specifically against the DSS that are detaining him. In all other cases, it’s just bail by the courts. He has never approached any Nigerian court for the enforcement of his fundamental human rights. This is the first time and they (DSS) came to court where they stated their own side of the case.”

“In all those cases, DSS was never a party and had never made any input, but now they made an input and the court has said ‘what you say does not add up, go and release him, but since you say you are investigating other things, I will admit him to bail so whenever you want to see him, he should be coming to you from 9-6’. So, I do not want to believe DSS, a responsible organization, will disobey the court,” he

Reacting to the latest bail granted to Dasuki, human rights lawyer, Dr. Kayode Ajulo, called on the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) to boycott the courts if the government fails to honour the order.

Ajulo, in a statement, said the continued flouting of court orders by the federal government in respect of bails for Dasuki was a danger to democracy and the rule of law.

“The Federal Government should not be allowed to decide which orders it will obey because by so doing, it endangers the authority of the judiciary as an arm of government and offers little hope to citizens that their fundamental human rights can be guaranteed,” Ajulo said.

According to him, despite assurances by President Muhammadu Buhari not said.

The court had held that “the long and continued detention” of Dasuki since December 29, 2015, could not be justified by the DSS.

Justice Ojukwu held that the respondents in the suit - the DSS, its Director-General, Lawal Daura and the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr. Abubakar Malami (SAN) - have not successfully justified the long and continued detention of the defendant.

“Based on the circumstances of this case and the established facts, the honourable court is of the humble but firm opinion and as affirmed by superior authorities that the applicant (Dasuki) has made out a case to warrant the intervention of this court,” the judge held.

The judge, who saw the continued detention as imposing a “custodial punishment” on Dasuki when he had yet to be convicted, said, “The period of detention has become unreasonable in the circumstance.”

She added that the DSS and its DG cannot impose custodial punishment on Dasuki in the guise of investigating a fresh issue of money laundering.

She also told the three respondents to focus on prosecuting Dasuki based on the “fresh” case of money laundering they claimed to have against him instead of sticking to a “pyrrhic victory” of holding him in unlawful detention.

Justice Ojukwu said, “What this court is saying, in essence, is that the respondents should focus on prosecuting the applicant and not on the pyrrhic victory of holding him in an unlawful detention. When it comes to the rule of law and the constitution, if the applicant is found culpable for the alleged to encroach on the functions of the other two arms of government in his inaugural address on May 29, 2015, the president had not kept faith with the promise as his administration has continued to decide which court orders it should obey or not.

However, some senior lawyers have said the call for boycott would have more far reaching and negative impact on the justice system.

A professor of public law and president of the Centre for Socio-Legal Studies, Yemi Akinseye-George (SAN) said the idea of boycotting courts to drive home a point may not be ideal because it would foist hardship on others. “We should not try to right a wrong by committing another wrong,” he said.

He said what NBA could do is to continue to use lawful means to ensure that offences, he should be visited with the full wrath of the law if he so deserves. The law remains that the burden of proving the illegality or the unconstitutionality of the fresh allegations is on the respondents.”

While Dasuki remained in custody as at Thursday, Raji said the legal team had gone far in perfecting the conditions in the fresh bail application, adding that the upcoming judges’ vacation have no effect whatsoever on the perfection. He said, “Perfection of bail has nothing to do with vacation. In any event, the judge has done his own; it is now the registry officials. Once the conditions are perfected, the Deputy Chief Registrar will write to them (DSS). Nothing goes back to the judge again. Even if there is need for a judge’s input, there are always vacation judges who will look at it.”

On fears that some potentials sureties might be wary of coming forward, Raji said though former Governor of Adamawa State, Boni Haruna who at one time stood surety for Dasuki was invited by the DSS, it government does the right thing. He said “the national executive of the NBA should pay a courtesy visit to the Attorney General of the Federation and demand not only the release of Dasuki but all others kept in custody against the laws of the land.

“Democratic governments should not disobey orders of court. If they have other reasons of detaining him, the reasons should be made public and known to the court. Government should not open door for anarchy by disobeying its own courts. If the court says release somebody and you refuse, that is sending a wrong signal which endangers our nascent democracy.”

Similarly, a former president of the NBA, Chief O.C.J. Okocha (SAN) condemned the continued detention, saying the refusal by the executive to obey court order is most unbecoming of any democratic system. might have been because the ex-governor had other issues with the security agency. He said other persons that stood as surety for Dasuki were neither arrested nor threatened.

Raji added that the team had no intent of considering contempt proceedings against the DSS as is being mooted by some persons. “We are not interested in commencing contempt proceedings against the DSS,” he said.

Asked what the legal team would do if the court’s orders were not adhered to this time again, he said “When we get to that bridge, we will cross it. As it is now, I have confidence in the DSS.”

“This indicates a determined effort to undermine the rule of law in Nigeria and put our democratic governance in serious jeopardy. It casts us in bad light as a nation that our government refuses to obey orders duly granted by courts of the land. It is very disturbing that such is going on in this day and age,” he said in a phone interview.

On whether the call for the NBA to boycott court sittings over the issue is justified, Okocha said it will have more adverse effect on the justice system. “On one or two occasions in the past, the NBA and some branches of the NBA have boycotted courts and this was to drive home a point. But as a senior counsel, I know boycotting courts have its own detrimental effects as it will affect other cases and the litigants will now be the one at the receiving end.”

He however said it was a matter that would be brought up at the upcoming National Convention of the NBA, adding that “something ought to be said about this scenario playing out under a democratically elected government.”