Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has released Colonel Nicholas Ashinze who has been in custody gulag since December 23, 2015.
He was released on Wednesday from the Mogadishu Military Cantonment by the military authorities.
This is sequel to an earlier order made by the Hon. Justice Y. Halilu of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court N0.32, sitting at Jabi, Abuja, in a fundamental rights case argued by Col Ashinze’s lawyer, Chief Mike Ozekhome, SAN.
It will be recalled that the Hon. Justice Halilu, had in his ruling while ordering the unconditional release of Col. Nicholas Ashinze with his confiscated properties, from the custody of the EFCC/Military authorities for nearly three months, lambasted the EFCC and the Army for failing to obey constitutional provisions dealing with the rights and liberties of a serving Colonel alleged to have committed an offence.
The judge had stated the motto of the EFCC which states that “Nobody is above the Law” also applies to all investigating authorities, including EFCC, but which has been behaving as if it is above the law.
He termed the action of EFCC and the Army as akin to what obtains in an uncivilized society, still living under military dictatorship. He also described the EFCC and Army as behaving like illiterates.
“This judgment and the subsequent release from custody today of Colonel Ashinze, are no doubt a great triumph for the rule of law, re-establishment of the sanctity and independence of the Judiciary, and a clarion call on all investigating agencies to act within the confines of the rule of law and not to see themselves as maximum dictators and tyrants, who are above the law, in their perceived fight against corruption.
“The unusual courage and daring bravado of Justice Halilu under the present clime of simulated fear and barefaced intimidation of the Judiciary by the Executive, are to be applauded as signposting a ray of hope in the wilderness of jungle justice and blatant violations of the cherished rights, freedoms and liberties of Nigerian citizens” Chief Ozekhome said.
A Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Mike Ozekhome, has berated President Muhammadu Buhari for appointing Col. Hameed Ali (retd.) as the new Comptroller-General of the Nigeria Customs Service.
Mike ozekhome
This is just as the Ijaw National Congress accused the President of pursuing a northern agenda through his “lopsided” appointments.
Ozekhome said in a statement that Buhari’s appointment of a retired soldier to head a paramilitary institution was illegal.
The senior advocate described as nonsensical claims that Buhari appointed a former soldier to head the Customs because he could not find any Customs officer with integrity to head the service.
He said, “The appointment of Hameed Ali has, particularly, raised serious issues of propriety, having been brought in from outside the customs service. By Section 3:11:1 of the Federal Republic of Nigeria official gazette No 24, vol 89, dated March 25, 2002, the choice of the CG of Customs shall be by appointment of a suitable Deputy Comptroller-General of Customs.
“Some unrepentant apologists have already argued, surprisingly, that a gazette is not a law, and so President Buhari was not obliged to follow the extant gazette in appointing one of the six serving Deputy Comptrollers-General of Customs as the CG.
“They even argue, tongue in cheek, that he could not find an officer amongst the six DCGs that is incorruptible. Jesus! Why not dissolve the entire Customs then and set up a fresh one?”
He said such an appointment was synonymous with military rule and called on Buhari to realise that Nigeria is now practising democracy.
Ozekhome, who was a delegate to the last National Conference, said Buhari would be setting a bad precedence if he did not reverse the appointment.
He added, “In any event, even if past governments did wrong in bringing in ‘outsiders’ to head Customs, thus demoralising the psyche of career officers, who have spent their lives serving the nation, hoping to rise to the zenith of their careers, why should President Buhari’s government which promised change, repeat same?
“Is it not meant to be change from past bad habits, actions, inactions, maladministration, etc? Was that not why Nigerians voted for him and against Goodluck Jonathan’s government?”
Meanwhile, the Ijaw National Congress has expressed deep concerns over the leadership style of Buhari, which according to them, confers undue advantages to a particular section of the country at the expense of other regions, especially in the areas of appointments as well as the war against corruption.
The acting president of the association, Mr. Charles Ambaiowei, while commenting on the state of the nation, noted that Buhari’s appointments so far showed a brazen breach of the federal character.
The group alleged that Buhari appointed an ‘outsider’ to head Customs to prevent a Niger Delta man, who was next in line, to assume the office of CG.
ABUJA – Chief Mike Ozekhome, a Constitutional lawyer and human rights activist in his reaction said, “Section 68 (1) (g) of the 1999 Constitution as altered, merely prohibits carpet crossing or defection from the original sponsoring political party to another. Where that happens, a member of the Senate or House of Representatives is to vacate his seat.
Mike Ozekhome
“Though the Speaker, Aminu Tambuwal has decamped from PDP to APC, he has not yet been pronounced upon as having lost his seat in the House. For now, it is presumptuous. Even at that, we should rise above the level of petty politics and do the right thing by not desecrating our institutions and the quintessence of our democratic culture through actions that call to question the institutions of the Nigeria Police and the National Assembly.
“Tambuwal remains the speaker of the House, at least till December 3, when the House resumes Plenary. He has not been impeached. He remains the number four (4) person in Nigeria. He therefore deserves full complement of security, not because of his person as an ordinary Nigerian, but as the Speaker of the lower House, the 4th person in order of protocol.
“If the speaker can show that his defection is as a result of a division in PDP, or that PDP has lost its identity because of its merger with another Political party, he will be excused by the proviso to Section 68 (1) (g) of the Constitution. For now, the Police should immediately restore his security aids without much ado.
Also some Senators yesterday reacted to the withdrawal of security details of the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Aminu Tambuwal over his recent defection to the All Progressives Congress, APC, by the Inspector-General of Police, Abba Ibrahim.
As most of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Senators that were contacted refused to talk, saying that it was a sensitive matter and that their comments may not go down well with the position of their party (PDP), Senators of the opposition political parties condemned the act by the IGP, describing it as an impunity taken to the highest order.
Senator Kabiru Marafa, representing Zamfara State on the platform of APC, said the action of the IGP was highly unconstitutional even as he cautioned the PDP-led federal government to handle the matter with a lot of caution.
According to Senator Marafa, “We are occupying the various offices we are occupying today, courtesy of the constitution. Whatever we do should be in conformity with the constitution and the rule of law. The action is wrong and unfortunate because mere defection does not remove him as speaker”
Senator Babafemi Ojudu, APC, Ekiti Central in his own reaction said, “The withdrawal of Tambuwal’s security details is unfair, uncivilized. How can a government order the withdrawal of the security personnel attached to the number four citizen of the country?
“Why can’t they withdraw the security of Governor Olusegun Mimiko when he defected from Labour Party to the PDP? If the government continues like this, they will kill Nigeria’s democracy. The federal Government will be held responsible if anything should happen to Tambuwal today.
“The IGP is not there to serve the interest of his party, he is there to protect all Nigerians. He should therefore in the interest of peace, restore the security details of the number four citizen of the country without further delay.”
Senator Robert Boroffice, APC, Ondo North; said, “Tambuwal remains the Speaker until he resign from office ir removed. The constitution does not say that the speaker must emerge from the majority party in the House. It only provides for the members to choose the presiding officers from among themselves.
“Withdrawing Tambuwal’s security details is an act of impunity and it is very shameful. He is the Speaker and the security personnel were attached to his office.”
Also reacting to the development, Senator Olufemi Lanlehin, representing Oyo South on the Accord Party platform insisted that since Tambuwal still remained the Speaker, his security details should be restored.
Senator Lanlehin said, “The Federal Government should follow the right process. Tambuwal still reserved his rights to have access to security until he is formally removed by two-third majority.”
A revelation by a member of the National Conference that he had received a threat message from terrorists caused a scare at the confab on Monday.
The delegate, Chief Mike Ozekhome (SAN), told the conference that he received a message on his telephone threatening an “attack bigger than Nyanya blast” and sought the permission of the Chairman of the confab, Justice Idris Kutigi (retd.), to read the message.
Kutigi granted the permission and Ozekhome accordingly read the text.
The message, which Ozekhome also forwarded to our correspondent later, read, “News got to us that our enemy is planning something bigger than Nyanya blast between Tuesday and Wednesday, in Abuja. Mind your movement and be careful. The date is still unknown. Please, pass it around to save loved ones.”
After listening to the text of the message, one of the delegates, who asked not to be named, shouted, “We are in trouble in this country. Bombing everywhere; when will this stop? Even here, we don’t know what is going to happen. Things are so bad in the country. Things are so bad.”
Many of the delegates were seeing discussing the development in hushed tones but with panic on their faces.
None of them was willing to speak with The PUNCH on the matter on Monday.
Another delegate, Obi Onoliefo, had on Thursday last week, raised the issue of safety of delegates when, having looked at the perimeter of the National Judicial Institute, observed that there were no security operatives manning them.
Onoliefo, therefore, called for security operatives to be drafted to the perimeter fences to forestall insurgents from breaking into the premises and causing bloodshed.
Meanwhile, some hoodlums suspected to be members of the Boko Haram sect invaded the Shani Local Government Area of Borno State on Monday and torched the Divisional Police Station, houses and shops.
It was learnt that the insurgents used Improvised Explosive Devices and petrol bombs.
The Caretaker Chairman of the council, Alhaji Modu Walama, who was said to have escaped a series of attacks by assassins and terrorists in recent past, narrowly escaped being killed by the terrorists.
The insurgents were said to have attacked the family house of Walama in Walama and killed one of his sons.
One of our correspondents learnt that the terrorists invaded Shani on motorcycles and bombed the divisional police headquarters at about 2:45pm on Monday.
The policemen on duty had fled before the attackers reached the station.
They were said to have snatched one of the patrol vehicles belonging to the police and set it ablaze after they discovered that the vehicle’s engine was faulty.
The gunmen reportedly moved from the police station into the town and shot sporadically before fleeing towards the Gwaskara village.
Shani is the southern part of the troubled Borno State and about 245 kilometres drive from Maiduguri, the state capital. It shares boundary with some parts of Adamawa State.
A resident of Shani, Mallam Aliyu Usman, who was among those who fled the town during the attack, told journalists that they got news of the terrorists lurking around the town at about 8am.
He said some women sighted the criminals on their farmlands around Walama, on the outskirts of the town.
The terrorists were said to have scared the women off their farms, telling them that they had a deadly mission to execute in some places in Shani.
All efforts to get the Police Public Relations Officer in the state, Gideon Jubrin, for confirmation was not successful as his phone line was inaccessible as of the time of filing this report.
Human rights activist, Chief Mike Ozekhome, SAN, who was kidnapped in Edo State some months back has advised the Federal Government of Nigeria to go into dialogue with the Boko Haram sect in order to bring back the girls abducted in Chibok, Borno State, in April 14.
Mike Ozekhome
In a Statement made available, Mike Ozekhome, a member of the ongoing National Conference, reminded the Federal Government of its role to ensure the security and welfare of the citizenry in Section 14 of the 1999 Constitution.
He said: “The controversy over whether or not the Federal Government should negotiate with Boko Haram with a view to releasing the abducted Chibok Secondary School girls, is nauseating and demeaning of our humanity, to say the least.
“Let it be made clear that the security and welfare of Nigerians are the primary purpose of government (Section 14 of the 1999 Constitution).
”It is unthinkable that some people would want the lives of these innocent future leaders of Nigeria to be wasted on the altar of government grand-standing and engagement niceties. There are times when a government stoops to conquer.
Recalling that former US President, Mr. J.F. Kennedy, once promulgated the concept of negotiation, Ozekhome said Nigeria could not continue to experience the orgy of bloodletting which had claimed over 12, 000 lives amid wanton destruction of schools, churches and mosques.
”It was J.F. Kennedy, former American President, who once declared that we should never fail to negotiate, just as we should never negotiate out of fear. Negotiating with Boko Haram will not amount to negotiating out of fear.
“It is simply an irritating sacrifice to be made to justify the sanctity of the lives of these young, innocent souls. I dare say that the Federal Government should negotiate even with Satan, if that would bring back our girls. Even Satan would be humbled and diminished by such an unprecedented strategy.
”Recall that part of the main brief of the Turaki Committee was to negotiate with the Boko Haram group, an offer it had imperiously rejected. Now that the same Boko Haram has thrown up the “Olive branch,” for that is what it clearly is, the Federal Government should seize it, and make gains out of it.
”It affords a golden opportunity, not only to negotiate the release of the Chibok girls, but to holistically negotiate amnesty and halting of the horrific insurgency and bloodletting that have claimed over 12, 000 lives and wanton destruction of houses, Schools, Churches, Mosques, public buildings, bus stops, etc.
”The Federal Government should, for once, think of the trepidation, unease, cries, tension, suspense, psychological trauma and mental torture, that the abduction of these children is causing their parents, teachers, siblings, friends and loved ones.” (VG/NCN)
