The federal high court in Abuja has ordered the
Directorate of State Security (DSS) to release immediately, Mr. Selky
Torughedi, an ex militant who has been detained by the directorate for almost
two months.
Delivering judgment last week in an application filed
by counsel to the suspect, Emeka Uchegbulam, seeking for the enforcement of his
fundamental human rights under sections 34, 35, 36 and 41 of the 199
constitution as amended, Honorable Justice Nnamdi Dimgba said the state
security service erred in law to have detained Selki Torughedi for such a
length of time without any single tangible evidence of culpability.
Justice Dimgba averred that the explanations given by
the DSS were wide and very speculative, noting that the justification offered for the
continuous incarceration of the suspect
were bereft of any shred of evidence to back them up. He said the court can
only act on the basis of credible evidence.
The DSS had arrested Selky Torughedi in Calabar on June
17th 2016 and detained him ever since in their headquarters in
Abuja. Thereafter, they deposed to an
affidavit before the court that the suspect is a high ranking member and
sponsor of the Niger Delta Avengers and that he was arrested for his
involvement in acts of militancy, terrorism, kidnapping, blowing up pipelines
and plans to assassinate some top government officials in the country.
Against the backdrop of these allegations, they said it
would be prejudicial to free the suspect as it would constitute a threat to
national security.
But Justice Dimgba overruled these allegations.
According to him, the DSS has no
single proof to offer to back their
claims .Such proof he said could have been in the form of a call log from
communication companies showing discussions which the suspect has had with
militant members plotting the nefarious activities which the DSS alleged him to
be involved in.
It could have been in the form of statements offered by
other arrested members pointing out the suspect as their member. The DSS, he said did not even deem it fit to
exhibit any confessional statement made by the applicant for the court to evaluate
and neither did they explain in what form the applicants sponsorship of the
militant group had taken whether it was financial, material or just moral
sponsorship.
The Judge also made the DSS to realize the futility of
its position on the continuous detention of Torughedi when he said a suspect
who is accused of planning to blow up pipelines and commit other crimes
couldn’t have been arrested at midnight in the bosom of his wife; one should
expect that he would be in the creeks with his comrades at arms.
Justice Nnamdi Dimgba lamented that the DSS has not
provided him with sufficient materials to enable him believe that the storyline
presented to justify the continuous incarceration of Selki Torughedi without
charging him to court within the period prescribed by sections 35(4) and (5) of
the constitution.
In the absence of such concrete material Justice Dimgba
ruled that” any incarceration that was not backed by order of a competent court
is illegal, unconstitutional and must be shot down by the court, being the
guardian of those sacred rights secured by the constitution”
He therefore ordered that selki Torughedi be released
immediately.
However, one week after the judgment was given and the
ruling served on the DSS they are still holding on to Selki Torughedi.
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