The Federal High Court, Abuja has appealed to the Nigeria Customs Service to compensate the family of a defendant who died while in its custody on compassionate grounds.
The judge, Justice Nnamdi Dimgba, who made the appeal, said he was not making any order to the effect but was merely appealing.
Dimgba said he was making the appeal since the deceased had left behind a wife and an infant, who were both in court.
Dimgba said the service should consider compensating the defendant’s family since they were partly responsible for his death.
The judge also said this was so because the health of the deceased deteriorated while in NCS custody, yet they did nothing about it.
He asked Laura Oviawe, counsel to Abubakar Rilwan, to officially write to the NCS to request for compensation.
The judge had ordered the NCS Director of Legal Services, T. K. Wudaba, to appear before him to explain why Rilwan was not taken to hospital as ordered by the court.
Wudaba told the court that the NCS obeyed the orders of the court and was surprised to hear of the death of the defendant.
He said: “We took the defendant to our hospital on the same day that the court ordered.
“Upon examination, our doctor diagnosed and gave him some prescription and referred him to the National Hospital.
“The next day, while arrangements were being made to take him to the National Hospital, his counsel informed me that the defendant had an ailment known to his family, which was being treated in ABU teaching hospital.”
Wudaba said his counsel applied that Rilwan be released to the family and as his lawyer he would guarantee his availability for trials.
Wudaba also said the NCS had yet to receive a formal notification of the death of Rilwan.
Oviawe had told the court that Rilwan died while in the custody of the NCS on July 13.
Rilwan was accused of engaging in fraudulent recruitment for the service, but was yet to enter a plea at the time of his death.