Former National Security Adviser, Sambo Dasuki, today floored the Nigerian government at the Economic Community for West African States (ECOWAS) court.
According to PR NIGERIA, Colonel Sambo Dasuki (Rtd) triumphed in the first leg of his court action challenging his alleged unlawful arrest and detention without trial since December last year by the federal government.
Against the objection of government, the international court in Abuja today ruled that it has jurisdiction to entertain the suit brought before it by Dasuki for the enforcement of his fundamental rights to liberty and to own property as enshrined in the provisions of the Nigerian 1999 constitution and African Charter on fundamental rights of persons.
In the ruling delivered by Justice Friday Chijoke Nwoke, the Economic Community of West African States, ECOWAS court said,
“In our opinion, what Dasuki brought before us as a case is an issue for the enforcement of his fundamental rights to liberty and own property and against unlawful arrest, unlawful detention and unlawful seizure of properties without any court order or warrant of arrest.
“From the totality of the issues brought before this court, it is clear and there is no ambiguity that the applicant is seeking enforcement of his right to freedom and not on the issue of his trail for any alleged offence before any Nigerian court”.
Justice Nwoke further said: “therefore, the objection of the government and the request that the case of the applicant in this matter be struck out on the ground of emanating from any criminal matter has no basis, the claims and the request lack merit and hereby dismissed and we declare that the application of Dasuki is admissible to this court”.
The ECOWAS court said that it was not out to decide the issue of whether the applicant is guilty of the charges against him in the Nigerian courts or not but simply to ascertain whether his fundamental rights to liberty having been granted bail in criminal matters and rearrested since last year and kept in an unknown place constitute an abuse of his rights to freedom.
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