Dino Melaye: Police Has No Right To Declare Any Citizen Wanted - Victor Ekim

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Dino Melaye: Police Has No Right To Declare Any Citizen Wanted - Victor Ekim

 

A Former Vice Chairman of the FCT Chapter of the Nigerian Bar Association, Victor Ekim, has said the police have no right to declare any citizen wanted.

He said this when he appeared as a guest on Channels Television’s Politics Today, Wednesday following the decision of the Police to declare the senator representing Kogi West, Senator Dino Melaye and seven others, wanted. 

Ekim said what the police ought to have done was to send a letter to the Senate President, requesting that he produces Senator Melaye or go to court.

“I would say that amounts to trivializing the issue. Dino Melaye is a Senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, and I think they have these appellation ‘distinguished’ attached to their names.

“He draws salary from the taxpayers’ funds, so he can be reached through the Senate President. The proper approach is to send a letter to the Senate President, requesting that he produce Dino Melaye to the police authority for questioning.

“A second way to go about it is to present a court with the allegation against Dino Melaye and the evidence the police has gathered against him.

“But the police cannot arrogate unto itself the power to prosecute and pass a sentence by way of declaring a citizen wanted.

“That has been struck down by a court of law in the Federal Capital Territory where honourable Justice Musa declared the powers of the EFCC to declare a citizen wanted, illegal.

“The Police on its own does not have a right to declare a citizen wanted, it means you are the complainant, the investigator and the one declaring him wanted so you’re overriding judicial powers,” he stated.

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APC Crises: Buhari Lacks The Power To Determine The Tenures Of APC Officers - APC Tells Court

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APC Crises: Buhari Lacks The Power To Determine The Tenures Of APC Officers - APC Tells Court

 

The All Progressives Congress, APC, has told a Federal High Court sitting in Abuja that President Muhammadu Buhari lacks the power to determine tenure of its officers.

The party said this while opposing the hearing of the suit by aggrieved members of the party over the tenure elongation for the National Working Committee, NWC, led by John Odigie Oyegun before a Federal High Court in Abuja.

The aggrieved members, led by Ademorin Kuye and Are Mutiu (Lagos); Sani Mayanchi (Zamfara); and Machu Tokwat (Kaduna) had earlier sought an ex parte order directing the NWC members to show cause why the court should not stop them from continuing as national officers of the party effective June 30.

The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, the APC, the party’s national chairman, Oyegun and the National Organising Secretary, Senator Osita Izunaso were joined as respondents in the suit.

At the resumed hearing on Wednesday, counsel to the agitating members, Jibrin Okutepa, SAN, demanded that the case be heard since Buhari had at the National Executive Council (NEC) of the party on Tuesday, admitted that the tenure elongation was illegal.

However, defence lawyers, Akin Olujimi, SAN, Joseph Daudu, SAN, James Onoja SAN, and Idris Yakubu, asked the court to adjourn the matter to enable them respond to the originating processes just served on them.

Daudu, standing as the counsel to the APC, argued that Order 7 Rule 1 provided for 30 days from the date of filing the suit for a reply.

He therefore asked the court to discountenance Okutepa’s submission.

Responding to the president’s comment on Oyegun and others’ tenure elongation, Daudu said whatever view thereof was Buhari’s personal opinion and carried no weight until the party met and deliberated on the matter.

He told the court, “As far as President Buhari’s view is concerned, it carries no weight until the party meet and decide and deliberated on it. As far as the party is concerned he is an ordinary member like others.”

Having listened to the argument of counsel, Justice Nnamdi Dimgba assured that the court would give fair hearing to all parties in the matter.

He also ordered the filing and service of processes before the court and adjourned till April 16 for hearing.

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Dino Melaye Alleged Gunrunning Case in Kogi state Transferred To Abuja

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Dino Melaye Alleged Gunrunning Case in Kogi state Transferred To Abuja

 

The court case involving embattled senator, Dino Melaye for allegedly arming political thugs in Kogi State has been transferred to Abuja Federal High court.

This was disclosed by the Senator on his official Twitter page.

The tweet read “I have just been contacted by my lawyer Ricky Tafa that the case against me by the Inspector General of Police in Lokoja has been transferred to Federal High Court Abuja. God is a good God.”

This is coming at a time the Inspector-General of Police, IGP Ibrahim Idris ordered the immediate removal of the Commissioner of Police in Kogi State, Ali Janga following the escape of six suspects from police custody early Wednesday morning.

We reported that two suspects, Kabiru Saidu A.k.a Osama and Nuhu Salisu A.k.a small who accused the lawmaker representing Kogi West, Senator Dino Melaye of arm sponsorship escaped from police custody on Wednesday.

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Police Defies Court Order, Prevents Peace Corp From Occupying Office

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Police Defies Court Order, Prevents Peace Corp From Occupying Office

 

The Nigeria Police on Thursday prevented members of the Peace Corps of Nigeria from taking possession of their national headquarters in Jabi, Abuja.

The premises had remained sealed by the police since February 28, 2017.

The police ignored orders of the Federal High Court, Abuja with the attendant letter from the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF), Abubakar Malami, directing it to vacate the premises.

Also, the House of Representatives through its Committee on Public Petitions, on Tuesday, urged the police to comply with court orders and the advice of the AGF.

However, officers of Peace Corps led by the National Commandant, Dickson Akoh joined by the Coalition of Civil Society Organizations for Justice and Equity, stormed the sealed premises on Thursday to take possession of the offices.

They were resisted by a detachment of Mobile Police officers from the FCT Command.

Reacting to this development, the civil society coalition led by Olayemi Success, said it was ironical that the police expected to obey laws were seen disobeying court orders.

“Same police which was supposed to be enforcing law could not obey court orders, the AGF and the order of Nigerian parliament,” Success said

When contacted, the FCT Commissioner of Police, Bello Sadiq, pleaded with the corps to hold on while he consulted the Inspector General of Police, whom he said had final say on the matter.

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2010 Independence Day Bombing: Suspects Charles Okah's Daughter Pleads On His Behalf

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2010 Independence Day Bombing: Suspects Charles Okah's Daughter Pleads On His Behalf

Daughter of the alleged mastermind of the 2010 Independent Day bombing, Charles Okah, Tarila has alleged that there is a judicial conspiracy to frustrate her father by ensuring his continuous stay in prison.

Appealing to President Muhammadu Buhari to pardon her father, Tarila claimed that there has been no compelling evidence against Okah over the last six years that he has spent at the Kuje Prison in Abuja.

In a letter to the President, she alleged that there is a deliberate plot to keep her father in prison, citing an instance when a member of the prosecuting team allegedly travelled abroad for his child’s convocation instead of appearing in court.

The letter reads in part, ”In a recent court sitting, a witness from the Department of State Security (DSS) who introduced himself as a ‘Crime Scene Investigator’ admitted that, “no evidence was collected at the crime scene.

“It is rather unfortunate that several court dates in the course of my father’s trial have been cancelled either because the presiding Trial Judge had a conference to attend or for other reasons that brings disrepute to the Nigerian justice system.

“For instance, the prosecutor Dr. Alex Izinyon, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria failed to attend one of the trials on a date that had been agreed upon beforehand, instead choosing to attend his child’s graduation ceremony abroad.”

Tarila contended that her father is entitled to bail under the constitution having spent six years in detention.

Describing her father as a prisoner of conscience, Tarila urged the President not to limit his anti-grat war to financial crimes alone but extend his tentacles to other areas.

“Mr. President, in your determined quest to fight corruption in Nigeria, I believe that the concept of corruption should be expanded beyond financial crimes. We must also fight corruption in the system, and in this case, the judicial system. We have witnessed the speedy handling of cases involving high profile politicians, but a very sluggish process for others,” she said.

Recall that Okah was first arrested in connection with the 2010 Independent Day bombing on October 16, 2010 on suspicion of being the spokesman of Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, MEND, Jomo Gbomo.

Following his arrested Okah has been languishing in prison.

Also Justice Gabriel Kolawole of an Abuja Federal High Court had on two different occasions denied Okah bail.

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BREAKING NEWS 2010 Independence Day Bombing: Suspects Charles Okah Appears In Court

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2010 Independence Day Bombing: Suspects Charles Okah Appears In Court

Charles Okah, the suspected mastermind of the Independence Day bombing in 2010 has continued his defence in the terrorism case filed against him by the federal government at the Federal High Court, Abuja.

Okah’s son, Boloyebi, appeared before Justice Gabriel Kolawole as witness to explain what he used a certain $13,000 his father gave him to do.

Boloyebi Charles Okah, who is a student of University of Kansas in the United States of America, was led in evidence by the defence counsel, Samuel Zibiri (SAN),

Okah Jnr. told the court that he used the $13,000 his father gave him to pay his tuition fees and housing expenses in America.

According to him, he was arrested by the Department of State Security (DSS) but released after nothing incriminating was linked to him before he processed his Degree admissions overseas and left the country on June 22, 2017.

When cross examined by the prosecuting counsel, Alex Izonyi (SAN), the witness said the $13,000 he received from his father was not enough to meet his needs of $19,470 overseas.

He further told the court that he could only only meet the requirements of his first semester in school.

When asked if his Delta Airline air ticket to America was paid in US Dollar, he said no.

Okah Jnr. said he paid the sum of N278, 000 for the flight ticket in Naira exclusive of the $13, 000 his father, who is in detention in Kuje prison, gave him.

“I paid for my flight ticket of N278, 000 in Naira. It was not from the money my father gave me,” he said.

When asked why he did not tender, before the court, a copy of his admission letter into the University of Kansas which would have indicated his years of admission, his course of study, and the duration of his programme, he could not replied.

He, however, told the court verbally that he was a student of Visual Arts in the university and was expected to complete his three year programme by 2020.

Thereafter, Charles Okah Snr, adopted his own witness statement on oath but he was not cross-examined by the prosecuting counsel.

The defence applied that the court should order the prison personnel to allow the defence has a conference meeting with the defendants along with the witnesses for 15 mins after the court session.

The prosecution, who did not oppose the application, however said it would raise its objections to Charles Okah’s witness statement on a later date because it only received it few minutes before the session commenced.

In a short ruling, Justice Gabriel Kolawole granted the defence request and ordered that the defendants should be allowed access to their counsel for 15 mins outside the courtroom.

He adjourned the matter until October 24, for continuation of hearing.

Charles Okah is the younger brother to ex-leader of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), Henry Okah, who is serving life sentence in South Africa prison.

 

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