Godwin Tsa, Abuja
The family of detained former National Security Adviser (NSA), Col. Sambo Dasuki (rtd) have asked the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) to sanction the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami (SAN), over alleged unprofessional conducts with regard to the continuous detention of Dasuki in the face of subsisting orders of court against the action.
The NBA was prayed to invoke code of ethics on Malami, investigate him and impose deserved disciplinary sanctions against him in order to safeguard the rule of law for the country.
The family further asked the NBA to intervene in the ordeal of Dasuki, speak out and take decisions and actions that would compel the Federal Government to respect the rule of law and obey the order of the court that admitted him to lawful bail.
In a petition dated July 23, 2018, the Dasuki family accused Malami of exhibiting unprofessional conduct likely to cause anarchy in the country through his promotion of disobedience to the lawful order of courts by the Federal Government.
READ ALSO: Igbo keen on 2023 Presidency, says Osita Okechukwu
The petition signed by his wife, Hajia Bintu Sambo Dasuki; his son, Abubakar Atiku Dasuki, and his nephew, Sen. Umar Dahiru, alleged that Malami was alleged to have made an unprofessional statement to denigrate the court, violate the constitution and encourage the continued breach of the fundamental human rights of Dasuki who has been clamped into detention since December 29, 2015.
The family also demanded that Malami should be investigated for the failure of the Federal Government to comply with any order of court admitting the former NSA to bail.
In the petition copied the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Legal Practitioners Privileges Committee (LPPC), and Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Committee (LPDC), the family regretted that Dasuki had been unjustly detained without a lawful order for almost three years by the federal government.
Recalling how their son served Nigeria meritoriously for 21 years as a courageous officer in the Nigerian Army; Managing Director, Nigeria Security Printing and Minting Company (NSPMC) and later as National Security Adviser to the immediate past administration, they stated that Dasuki had not been convicted of any crime till date.
They explained how the ordeal of Dasuki started when Presidemt Muhammadu Buhari’s government came on board in 2015 with unlawful invasion of his houses in Abuja and Sokoto during which his vital properties, including vehicles, were carted away by the operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS).
READ ALSO: Falana puts number of Nigerians killed in South Africa at 121
The petition also chronicled how Dasuki was arraigned before a Federal High Court and other High Courts of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) on various charges but was granted bail by the judges claiming that the charges were bailable offences under the Nigerian law.
The petition explained that on December 29, 2015 when the bails conditions were perfected and warrant of release signed by the court, the operative of DSS stormed the Kuje Prison in Abuja and immediately re-arrested the ex-NSA and had since clamped him in their detention camp.
The Dasuki family also recalled several efforts made to persuade the Federal Government to obey court orders and respect the rule of law on the issue of the former NSA through the court had failed, and noted that the family was advised to apply for enforcement of his fundamental rights in court.
Upon the advice, the petition indicated that the Court of Justice of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) was approached and that in the landmark judgment of the court which declared Dasuki’s detention ‘illegal, unlawful, null and void’ and subsequently ordered his immediate release in addition to imposing a fine of N15 million on the Federal Government as compensation for the breach of Dasuki’s fundamental rights.
The family regretted that up till date, the order of the international court was not obeyed by the Federal Government.
The petition noted that the latest judgment of Justice Ijeoma Ojukwu of the Federal High Court which on July 2, 2018, admitted Dasuki to bail upon a discovery that his detention was a breach of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and that of the fundamental rights of the ex-NSA.
The Dasuki family also claimed that upon meeting the bail condition, the warrant of release of Dasuki on bail signed by the court was served on the Director General of DSS and the Attorney-General of the Federation for their compliance with the order of the court.
The family, however, informed the NBA in the petition that rather than complying with the order of the court, the AGF as the Chief Law Officer of the Federation, made unprofessional remarks that the order of the court as relates to Dasuki would not be obeyed by the Federal Government.
The family wondered whether a lawyer, let alone a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), ought to have engaged in such unprofessional and unguided utterances capable of causing anarchy for the nation.
The NBA was prayed to invoke code of ethics on Malami, investigate him and impose deserved disciplinary sanctions against him in order to safeguard the rule of law for the country.
The family lamented that Malami’s statement was prejudiced, unwarranted and unbecoming of a legal practitioner, adding that imposing sanctions against Malami would make other Nigerians to respect the rule of law.
