A panel of Court of Appeal judges in
Lagos today set aside the N25 million compensatory damages earlier awarded
Lagos comedian, Babatunde Omidina " Baba Suwe " over a prolonged
detention by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) last year.
In the ruling, the Court of Appeal
re-affirmed the right of the NDLEA to investigate, arrest, detain and prosecute
drug suspects as long as the agency acts within the law.
The court said the NDLEA had
not violated Mr. Omidina's rights because it sought and got court orders from
the federal high court to keep him in custody after the arrested him on the
suspicion that he had ingested hard drugs.
The Court of Appeal came down
heavily on the Lagos High court judge that awarded the damages against the
NDLEA, describing the decision as oppressive and burdensome to an agency of
government carrying out its statutory duties.
Baba Suwe's attorneys led by
civil rights activist, Bamidele Aturu, has vowed to take the matter
before the Supreme Court.
No comments:
Post a Comment