Following his continued detention despite meeting his bail conditions,
former National Security Adviser (NSA), Sambo Dasuki, has filed a suit
against the Federal Government before the ECOWAS Court in Abuja and is
demanding payment of N500 million damages for alleged rights
infringement.
In the suit filed by his lawyer, Robert Emukpoeruo, Dasuki asked the
court to declare his continued detention as “unlawful, arbitrary and an
egregious violation” of his human rights. Dasuki in the suit also asked
the court to declare that the alleged invasion of his Abuja and Sokoto
residences on July 16 and 17, 2015 and the “forceful and unlawful
seizure” of his properties, “without any lawful order or warrant”
constituted a gross violation of his fundamental rights and offended the
country’s treaty obligations as a signatory to the listed legal
instruments.
No date has been set for hearing of the suit.
In a related development, Justice Adeniyi Ademola of the Federal High
Court, Abuja yesterday ordered the Federal government to produce him in
court on February 16th. Dasuki's lawyer, Joseph Daudu (SAN), told the
court that his client was abducted by security agents six weeks ago to
an unknown destination. He told Justice Ademola that since the ex-NSA
was whisked away, all efforts by his family and his lawyers to access
him had been scuttled.
Justice Ademola said:
“I am worried that the accused is not here. I do not want to set a bad
precedent. Except the court gives express order for the defendant not to
be in court, the accused must be brought to court from wherever he is.
The accused must be here because I am not sure if what I am doing right
now in the absence of the accused is not an illegality. Government and
whoever is concerned must endeavour to do the necessary thing. The
accused having been formally charged in court, must be produced in court
for trial on the appointed days in compliance with the provisions of
the law,”
Dasuki’s trial has been fixed for February 16 and 17 before Justice Ademola
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