ECOWAS Court orders immediate release of Dasuki, imposes N15m fine on Nigerian government .

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Court today declared the arrest and detention of former National Security Adviser, Colonel Sambo Dasuki, Since December 30, 2015, as unlawful and arbitrary.

In a judgment delivered by Justice Friday Chijioike Nwoke, the Court held that the further arrest of Colonel Dasuki by the federal government in December 2015, after he was granted bail amounts to a mockery of democracy and the rule of law.

Justice Nwoke said: “Having perused the case before us, we have come to the conclusion that the re-arrest and detention of the applicant after he had been granted bail by three courts since last year make mockery of the rule of law. Executive arm should not interfere with the judiciary.

“Even if the applicant has committed crimes of whatever nature, the principle of innocence must be respected and the fact that he has been charged to court does not disentitled him to freedom of liberty… Court must rise to their responsibilities and prevent executive lawlessness.

“It is the applicant today; it could be anybody tomorrow. There is no legal basis for the re-arrest of the applicant other than to circumvent the bails granted by courts.

“We have no difficulty in coming to the conclusion that the purported search warrant claimed to have been obtained by the Nigerian government was an afterthought aimed at perverting the cost of justice because the so-called search warrant was not certified and to worsen the case the defendant claimed that it could not serve the same search warrant on the applicant.

“For the avoidance of doubt, anybody who commit crimes must be put on trial before an appropriate court but in doing so, the state must respect local and international laws in the prosecution of such persons.”

The court therefore ordered immediate release of Dasuki and payment of N15,000,000.00 as compensation to him for his unlawful arrest and detention.

Dasuki approached the ECOWAS court after he was rearrested by members of Nigeria’s State Security Service shortly after meeting his bail conditions in December 2015. He has remained in the custody of the SSS since his unlawful arrest.