‘Al-Mustapha’s case is unique’
Sadiq Abubakar Ilelah is the Chairman Arewa Young Lawyers Forum. In this interview he speaks about the trial of Major Hamza Al-Mustapha, James Ibori and sundry other topical issues. Excerpts: people are saying they are now Senior Advocates of ‘Naira’, there are still some of them that are good that are always after the truth and justice. We have SANs that are always after what they can get, but still among them, there are good ones with conscience. Those after money should always be conscious of what they are doing because the Creator will ask everyone to account for his/her actions. They should present themselves as true ambassadors of the profession and not ambassadors for Naira.
I am calling on the Nigerian police to reconsider indiscriminate arrests. You go to the prisons and see a lot of people in prison and they will say they don’t even know why they were arrested. If you even struggle to contact some of their parents, you will be shocked to hear that they don’t even know where they are. Some are arrested just by reports being filed against them presumably by their enemies in the society, accusing them of being a kidnapper or an armed robber.
In the court, you often find that the Ministry of Justice is filing a case against somebody without any witness to corroborate the charge and they will insist that their matter must be heard. People at the Ministry of Justice from all levels should be seen to represent the course of justice.
We are not opposing the arrest of any suspect, but we are saying they should not arrest indiscriminately. In our prisons now, almost 80% are awaiting trials while some among them are even innocent or not even aware of why they are being held in prison.
Dcountry? o you think Ibori should be tried again when he comes back to the
You know we have the principle of double jeopardy; once a person has been tried before a court of law for an offence and there was a conviction or acquittal, he cannot be retried for that matter. If the Nigerian government has any reason to arrest and try Ibori on a different matter separate from this one, they can go ahead.
You reportedly hailed the decision of the Supreme Court over the appeal of Lagos State government on the Major Hamza Al-Mustapha’s case, what really is your position?
Al-Mustapha is the only person to my knowledge that has stayed in prison for 15 years without trial. His case is a unique one. Even as at the last sitting, the matter could not proceed because it was discovered that one of the judges that was to preside over the matter earlier presided over the matter at the lower court. But with this, they had their opportunity to file their application and for Al-Mustapha it is also an opportunity because it will give him the opportunity to respond.
Can you clarify if the Supreme Court opened Major Al-Mustapha’s case the last time it was mentioned?
To open a case is quite different from granting leave to appeal. If a leave is granted by the court, for example, a leave is granted to anyone that is not satisfied with the decision of the Court of Appeal and approach the Supreme Court within 30 days. In the case of Major Al-Mustapha who was released by the Court of Appeal since 2013, Lagos State government did not deem it fit to appeal the said case until almost two years after, so they were out of time to do that. So they have to seek for the leave of court to be able to do it, and that was what truly happened.
What is your position on death penalty?
I don’t think death penalty should be abolished. If you are a good person, you expect good for everyone. If someone is said to have killed another person and it is proven in the law court against every reasonable doubt, it will be injustice to say the person shouldn’t face the death penalty too. Most criminals are only deterred from committing heinous crimes because of their fear of the death penalty.
What do you think about the title of Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), should it be scrapped?
SANship should not abolished because even be if