Nyanyan bombing: Why court struck out our ‘charges’ against Ogwuche – Police

The Nigeria Police on Thursday alluded reasons why a Federal High Court sitting in Abuja struck out the “charges” it filed before it against the alleged mastermind of the Nyanyan, Abuja bombing, Aminu Sadiq Ogwuche.
In a statement on Thursday by the Force Public Relations Officer, Emmanuel Ojukwu, the police said the prosecution of Ogwuche lies solely with the Department of State Service, which had the intelligence on the bombing and the suspect.
The police said the only reason it filed the charges against Ogwuche was to facilitate his extradition from Sudan.
Ogwuche, after the explosion, in which over 100 persons died, fled to Sudan.
The DSS then requested the Police to, with the assistance of the International Police Organisation, extradite Ogwuche to Nigeria for prosecution.
Ojukwu explained in the statement on Thursday that without a court process filed against Ogwuche, it would have been impossible to extradite him.
He said: “It would be recalled that the Department of State Security that had intelligence on the Nyanya Bombing and was investigating it, made a formal request to the Nigeria Police to assist in extraditing one Aminu Sadiq Ogwuche to Nigeria from Sudan, through the Interpol channel of which the Nigeria Police is well versed.
“It was at this stage and for this reason that the Nigeria Police Force filed charges against the suspected fugitive Aminu Sadiq Ogwuche, based on information that he fled to Sudan.
“The filing of charges against the suspect is a legal procedure to enable the Nigeria Police formally request the Sudanese authorities to grant Nigeria’s extradition request in respect of the suspected fugitive.
“For the records, copy of filed charge(s) against a fugitive must be appended to documents in support of extradition request made to the host country, which in this case, is Sudan.
“These facts were made known to the court when it insisted on the production of the accused even before his extradition to Nigeria.”
The Police explained that once Ogwuche was brought into the country, he became the property of the DSS, which should file charges against him.
Ojukwu said further in the statement: “Following Ogwuche’s extradition which the Nigeria Police accomplished successfully, the DSS, obtained a Court Order to remand the suspect for an initial period of three months in line with the Prevention of Terrorism Act and also liaised with the Office of the Attorney-General of the Federation to undertake his prosecution.
“For the record, at no time did the Nigeria Police arraign the suspect in court for terrorism related offences. Moreover, the purported prosecution/arraignment by the Police could not have happened as the Police could not prosecute a suspect it never arrested, never investigated nor had in its custody.”
The police said it felt unjustly vilified by the slant of the report in the media on what transpired in court in the Ogwuche case.
It said while it respects the right of the media, there was the need to crosscheck facts properly before publishing.
Ojukwu said: “It is therefore grossly erroneous, mischievous and malicious to impute lack of diligent prosecution to the Police. The Nigeria Police Force is manifestly and positively committed to the will of Nigerians to rid the nation of violent crimes like terrorism. Many of our officers have paid the supreme sacrifice on account of this.
“The Police while respecting the rights of the media to publish, however appeals that due diligent check be observed to ensure that misleading information is not disseminated to the reading public.”