Court knocks EFCC over continued detention of Jonathan's cousin
The EFCC on March 23, arrested Robert over alleged diversion of $40million through
One-Plus Holdings, a sister company of Kakatar Construction and Engineering
Company Limited, meant for securing oil pipelines.
Ruling on an application for the enforcement of his
fundamental rights, trial judge, by Justice Goodluck Olasunbor described the prolonged
detention of Azibaola Robert without trial as reprehensible and a conduct that
smacks of anarchy.
The judge held that the production warrant of the court that
was served on EFCC, on March 19, 2016, was flagrantly disobeyed noting that "Rather
than to comply with the production order, the respondent (EFCC) wilfully and
knowingly side-stepped this court's production warrant by releasing the
applicant (Azibaola Robert) to security operatives, who allegedly took the
applicant to Lagos on the same day and time the respondent was required to
present the applicant before this court.
"As an organisation that is set-up to enforce
compliance with the law, the respondent must lead by example," Justice
Olasunbor said.
Dissatisfied with the conduct of EFCC, the court maintained that the anti-graft
agency or any other security agency must obey a subsisting court order for the
production of a particular suspect in its custody.
Justice Olasunbor noted that "The conduct of the
respondent is condemnable. It undermines the integrity of the court and portends
anarchy. No person being a natural or juristic person is greater than the
court. All persons are subordinates to the rule of law.
"It is hoped that this rude conduct will never repeat
itself. Let nobody pull the wool over the face of this court," Justice
Olasunbor said.
It will be recalled that Azibaola Robert had through his
lawyer Chief Chris Uche, SAN, sued to enforce his fundamental rights.
Uche in the suit, had prayed the court to make “an order
granting his client an interim bail pending his arraignment before a court of
law by the respondent, EFCC or pending the determination of the substantive
motion in this suit.”
In his ruling, Justice Olasunbor had held that Robert’s detention by the EFCC for
over two weeks was unconstitutional, noting that the applicant had disclosed
sufficient evidence before the court to warrant the granting of his relief.
Relying on the extant provisions of the constitution, the
judge stated that under section 35 (5) of the said provision, the constitution
provides that a person who is under arrest or detention shall be brought before
a court of law within a reasonable time.
Section 35 subsection 5, 1 defines reasonable time as
follows: “In the case of an arrest or detention in any case where there is a
court of competent jurisdiction within the radius of 40 kilometres within (a)
period of one day and (b) in any other case a period of two days or such
longer period as in the circumstance may be considered by the court to be
reasonable.”
Justice Olasunbor further held: “flowing from the above
provisions, and applying the intentions of the authors of our revered
constitution in the instant scenario, the detention of the applicant for a
duration of 15 days as at today (Thursday, April 7), is far in excess of the
constitutionally provided time for detaining a citizen without his arrest or
arraignment in a law court.
“This court has carefully examined Order 4 Rule 3 and 4 of
the Fundamental Rights Fundamental Procedure Rules 2009, there it empowers the
court to entertain an ex-parte application for the prevention of life or
liberty of a Nigerian Citizen where exceptional hardship may be occasioned
before the service of the motion on notice.
“Applying the foregoing provisions as a litmus test to the
facts and circumstances of this case, I am of the view and so hold that this
ex-parte application is competent and contemplated by the laws of our land. The
applicant by this application disclosed that he has been in detention since 23
March, 2016 in an underground cell. This in this court’s view amounts to a
deprivation of his movement and his freedom contrary to the time frame
stipulated in the 1999 constitution.
“I am of the view that the applicant has disclosed
exceptional reason why this application should be granted. More importantly,
order 4 rule 4 (1) of the fundamental
rights enforcement procedural rules of 2009 empowers this court to grant bail
or order the release of the applicant forthwith from detention pending the
determination of the motion on notice."
In the same vein, the court had ordered the EFCC to release
Robert’s colleague and Executive Director of Kakatar Construction and
Engineering Company Limited, Mr. Dakoru Atukpa who had also been in detention
for the same period.
Despite the foregoing court order mandating the anti-graft
body to release Mr. Roberts, the defendant is still being held without being
charged to any court.
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