ECOWAS court gives FG 24 hrs to justify Dasuki’s detention

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) court has ordered the federal government to justify the detention of  Sambo Dasuki,  former national security adviser (NSA), in one day.

The court also ordered Dasuki to state his case against the government in one day.

The presiding judge of the regional court, Friday Chijioke Nwoke, gave the order in Abuja on Tuesday at the hearing of a legal action instituted by Dasuki to challenge his alleged unlawful detention, unlawful seizure of property and infringement of his fundamental rights to liberty.

Justice Nwoke, while ruling in a motion by the government seeking to give oral evidence against Dasuki, and to justify his detention, said the regional court having granted expeditious hearing in the case of alleged abuse of fundamental rights, would not do anything to defeat the accelerated hearing order.

In the ruling, the presiding judge granted the request of the federal government to call two witnesses who are security operatives to give oral evidence against Dasuki, but ruled that the defence by the government must be done in one day.

Subsequently, he ordered Dasuki to state his case on the alleged abuse of  his rights by the government on Wednesday, while the federal government must make its own defence on Thursday.

“Having listened to parties in this matter and the parties having filed and put all necessary documents and exhibits at the disposal of this court, and having granted accelerated hearing in this matter, it is in the interest of justice that this case must be expeditiously dealt with,” he held.

“In this regard, the plaintiff is hereby ordered to make out his case on Wednesday, May 18 and the defendant to ventilate its defence the following day, May 19 after which we will adjourn for judgment.”

Dasuki had sued the government at the ECOWAS court over his detention.

The former NSA asked the court to void the detention, the seizure of his property and to bar the government from further detaining him without a court order.

In the suit filed by his counsel, Robert Emukpoeruo, Dasuki asked the court to award in his favour a sum of N500m as compensatory damages for the alleged unlawful invasion of his house, detention, seizure of property and infringement on his rights.

He claimed that government had put him on trial in three different high courts on corruption charges where he was granted bail and that after meeting all the bail conditions, he was re-arrested on December 29, 2015 and had since been held incommunicado without a court order.

The federal government through its counsel, Tijani Gazali, had argued a preliminary objection against Dasuki on the grounds that he ought to have filed a contempt charge against the government for alleged disobedience to the court order granting him bail.

But the ECOWAS court ruled that the case of the Dasuki was on his fundamental rights and had nothing to do with the domestic court.