Activist lawyer Femi Falana (SAN) has faulted the claims by the Nigerian Navy that it does not know the whereabouts of 15 military officers and civilians held incommunicado since last September.
In a statement in Lagos yesterday, the lawyer described the reaction of the Naval authority as “sadistic denial”.
The names of the 15 Nigerians listed as respondents in a suit filed last December by the Navy (the applicant) before Magistrate N. A. Layeni include Group Captain Dada Labinjo, Lt.-Commander Sherifat Ibe Lambert (also known as Mrs Bola Labinjo) and Benjamin Gold, MT Adeline Jumbo, Segun Salihu Yusuf, Hanza Ezedonwen Yakubu and Tejoro Akpan Friday.
Others are: Innocent Akpan Sunday, Emmanuel Oputa, Ogumoyero Oluwasheun, Labinjo Christopher Kehinde, Adeleke Hamid Adewale, Onoja Musa Reube, Pius Mathew Paul and Peter Dung Pulle.
Falana raised six posers for the naval authority to justify his position that the 15 military officers and civilians are in the custody of the Navy.
He asked: “As their whereabouts are unknown, why did the Navy apply to the Chief Magistrates’ Court in Apapa, Lagos, for an order to detain them?
“Why did the Navy not deny the whereabouts of the detainees when the Magistrate ordered their immediate and unconditional release from custody on January 7?
“Since the whereabouts of the detainees are not known, why did the Navy file counter-affidavits in opposition to the application for the release of Captain Dada Labinjo and Lt.-Commander Bola Labinjo from further detention?
“Why has the Navy filed a motion for stay of execution of the order of the Federal High Court for the immediate release of Lt.-Commander Bola Banjo?
“Why did the Navy apply for an adjournment to react to the application for the enforcement of the fundamental right of Mr. Benjamin Gold?
“At what stage did the detainees disappear from the custody of the Navy?”
The lawyer recalled how the predicament of the detainees commenced.
He recalled that sometime last September, the Navy arrested the detainees and dumped them in a military detention facility at Apapa, Lagos.
Falana noted that in an attempt to legalise the arrest and detention of the detainees, the naval authorities obtained a remand warrant from a Magistrates’ Court at Apapa.
“But as the detainees, who were incarcerated for over three months, were not charged with any criminal offence, the Magistrates’ Court reviewed their case on January 7 and ordered the naval authorities to release them from illegal custody forthwith.
“But in utter contempt of the valid order of the Magistrates’ Court, the authorities of the Navy transferred the detainees to another military detention facility in Abuja.
“Following the application by Lt.-Commander Bola Labinjo, filed for the enforcement of her fundamental right to personal liberty, the Federal High Court directed the naval authorities to release her from illegal custody,” he said.
Justice C. J. Aneka, on February 26, declared the arrest and detention of Labinjo and her continued detention since September 12, last year, by the Navy as a violation of the applicant’s fundamental rights, as guaranteed under sections 35, 41, 44 and 46 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) and as illegal and unconstitutional.
The respondents in the suit are: The Nigerian Navy, the Chief of Naval Staff, the Flag Officer Commanding (FOC), Western Naval Command and the Commanding Officer, Nigerian Navy Ship NNS Beecroft.
The court had also issued an order compelling the respondents from further arresting, detaining or in any other manner infringing upon the rights of the applicant.
The court also awarded N1 million against the respondents as general damages for breaching the applicant’s fundamental rights.
Falana said the valid order of the Federal High Court had equally been ignored by the naval authorities without any legal justification.
“Even though the civilians among the detainees are not subject to service law, the naval authorities have continued to detain them in military detention facilities,” he said.
In a statement on April 28, the activist lawyer urged the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Mr. Abubakar Malami (SAN), to charge the naval personnel responsible for the violations of the fundamental rights of the 15 detainees with contempt of court and acts of torture under the Criminal Code Act and the Anti-Torture Act.
He said this was necessary to curb the growing culture of official impunity in the country.
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