The continued detention of a former National Security Adviser, retired Colonel Sambo Dasuki, by the Department of State Service in spite of a court order that admitted him to bail since last year, has again stalled his trial at the Federal High Court in Abuja for alleged illegal possession of firearms.
Dasuki on December 29, 2015 perfected the last bail condition, which was the third in series of bail granted him.
He was however rearrested by the operatives of the DSS.
However, in the bid to enforce his bail, Dasuki’s legal team, led by Joseph Daudu (SAN), applied to Justice Adeniyi Ademola of the Federal High Court to discharge the accused on the ground that the government that put him on trial was already in contempt of the court.
Daudu, in a motion he argued at the court, asked Justice Ademola to, in the alternative, discontinue the trial and strike out the charges against Dasuki until the Federal Government obeys the bail granted him since last year.
However, the Federal Government, through its counsel, Dipo Okpeseyi (SAN), filed a counter affidavit saying that the sureties who stood for Dasuki have not fulfilled the conditions attached to the bail.
Okpeseyi also said the government was not in breach of the bail order because the international passport of Dasuki earlier seized by the DSS has since been returned to him.
The government’s lawyer also said the DSS only invited Dasuki to have audience with him at its headquarters in furtherance to its statutory responsibilities of conducting investigation in respect of an entirely different offence being handled by the Government.
However Daudu informed Justice Ademola that they have just been served with a copy of the government’s reply to their motion and that they needed time to respond to series of new issues raised by the counsel in the response.
He then applied to the Judge to grant him an adjournment to enable him study and reply to the government’s position.
In his ruling, Justice Ademola said that it is in the best interest of justice and fair hearing as allowed by Section 36 of the 1999 Constitution that the adjournment must be granted.
The Judge also said the court cannot close its eyes to the claim of the defendant’s lawyer that they have no access to their client, Dasuki, to obtain fact to be used for his defence in the charges brought against him by the Federal Government.
The Judge ordered Dasuki’s counsel to file their response to the claim of government within seven days and adjourned till March 3, 2016.
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