ECOWAS Court Orders Dasuki’s Immediate Release

Former National Security Adviser, Col. Sambo Dasuki (retd.)


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Tobi Soniyi in Abuja
The Economic Community of West Africa States (ECOWAS) Court in Abuja has ordered the immediate release of the former National Security Adviser (NSA), Colonel Muhammadu Sambo Dasuki (rtd), from detention where he has been kept without trial since December 2015 by the federal government.

The regional court held that his detention violated both national and international laws on the right of persons and citizens to freedom of liberty.

In the judgment by the court and delivered by Justice Friday Chijioke Nwoke, the ECOWAS Court imposed a fine of N15 million against the Nigeria government as compensatory damages to the former NSA for the deprivation of his freedom to liberty and right to property.

In the judgment that lasted over one hour, the regional court dismissed the allegations of unlawful possession of firearms and economic crimes used by the federal government to justify the detention of Dasuki, adding that the Nigerian government went off track, because the applicant applied before the court for the enforcement of his fundamental rights.

Justice Nwoke said that even if the applicant had committed a crime, the law still required that due process of the law should be observed in his trial, adding that it was an established fact that the applicant was put on trial in three different Nigerian High Courts and was granted bails by the courts.

The court said that the action of the Nigerian government, in subjecting the ex-NSA to indefinite detention without trial, was condemnable because criminality had not been established against him.
The ECOWAS court came down heavily on the federal government on its claim that it detained Dasuki without trial because he (Dasuki) was “planning to stage a coup and wage war against millions of Nigerians”, adding that the defendant (Nigeria) was so confused and not consistent in its defence in the suit against it.

Justice Chijioke further held that the Nigerian government took the law into its hands and made a mockery of the rule of law by arresting the applicant without a warrant of arrest or warrant of detention when he had legally been granted bail by the appropriate courts.

According to the court, detention order must be made in writing and must be delivered to the detainee. In the instant case, none of such was obtained and delivered to Dasuki by the federal government before arresting and executing and forcefully taken away his property at his homes in Abuja and Sokoto.

The court also dismissed the claim of the federal government that Dasuki was arrested and detained in his own interest, adding that the claim was an assault to the Nigerian Constitution and other international laws, because there was no iota of evidence placed before the court that the applicant applied for security protection.