DSS and its aversion to the rule of law

The Department of State Services’ ways of conducting itself in a manner reminiscent of the dark days of the military when there was no respect for the rule of law have made many Nigerians think that President Muhammadu Buhari, though a self-confessed democrat, is steadily heading back to his ruthless days as a military Head of State. Or how could one describes his DSS’ aversion to the rule of law and unbridled love for unleashing terror on Nigerians in the name of fighting corruption.

Few days ago, September 30 to be precise, at the Court Three of the Federal High Court, Abuja which was presided over by Justice John Tsoho, people watched with awe as armed DSS operatives stormed the court where they forcefully took away a member of the arms procurement investigation committee, Air Cmdr.Umar Muhammed (retd.).

Muhammed was about to enjoy the bail he was just granted by the court.

The accused person, who was arrested on June 19, is being prosecuted over allegation of possession of Pump Action Gun with an expired licence. He is also undergoing prosecution for alleged possession of cash in his home above the sum allowed by the money laundering law.

Before then, the retired military officer had been arraigned before the Magistrate Court on June 27, where he was granted bail. As soon as he stepped out of the court room, he was abducted again by the DSS officials outside the court.

He was later arraigned before the Federal High Court Abuja presided over by Justice Nnamdi Dimgba, on July 21. The following day, the judge granted him bail, but with a caveat that he should be taken to Kuje prison until he perfects the conditions attached to the bail. The order meant nothing to the DSS as its operatives abducted him and took him to their office.

This action infuriated some human rights activists and lawyers, who, on June 28, took the DSS to court over the arrest and detention of the retired air force officer. The same judge on September 14, ruled in favour of the accused person and ordered that he be released unconditionally. Like several orders before it, the DSS chose to ignore it.

The ruling of this court, which the DSS probably considered unfavourable, made it to take the same matter before Justice Tsoho on September 30. In his ruling, the judge admitted the accused person to the same bail conditions as granted him by Justice Dimgba and adjourned the case for commencement of trial to November 7. The DSS operatives would not hear any of such as they quickly whisked the accused person away.

For a former National Security Adviser, Col. Sabo Dasuki(retd.), the more he gets bail at the courts, the more the orders of the courts are ignored. Dasuki, who has been in the DSS custody since November 2015, was first put under house arrest and arraigned on September 1, 2015 before a Federal High Court in Abuja. The court granted him bail on self-recognition after he pleaded not guilty to a one-count charge of illegal possession of firearms. His house was searched in July, 48 hours after leaving office.

On December 18, 2015, Justice Huseeini Baba Yusuf of the FCT High court, also granted Dasuki and four others bail after they pleaded not guilty to the allegation that they engaged in money laundering.

The judge granted them bail in the sum of N250m, and that, each of the accused persons would produce a surety who must be a serving or a retired civil servant not lower than the rank of a director. The judge ordered that the civil servants must also show proof of possession of a property within the FCT worth the same amount..

Counsel for Dasuki, Mr. Ahmed Raji (SAN), has constantly cried out that the DSS has continued to keep his client even after he has met his bail conditions. Among other bail conditions being scuttled by the DSS was the one granted him by Justice Adeniyi Ademola of the Federal High Court, on November 3.

Several other rulings of the court, directing the DSS to allow Dasuki access to his lawyers were also said to be violated. On December 29, 2015, he was said to have perfected another bail condition, the third in the series, but was promptly rearrested by the operatives of the DSS.

The frustrations he met in forcing the security agency to obey the numerous orders of the courts had prompted him to approach the Economic Community of West Africa State Court. The sub-regional court on October 4, ordered his immediate release from detention. The regional court held that the detention of Dasuki violated both national and international laws on the right of persons and citizens to freedom of liberty. In a judgement by the court and delivered by Justice Friday Chijioike Nwoke, the ECOWAS Court imposed a fine of N15m on Nigeria as compensatory damages to the former National Security Adviser for the deprivation of his freedom to liberty and the deprivation of his properties.

There are no signs that this order, like many before it, would be obeyed. The government, which the DSS is responsible to, may even be in the dilemma as obeying this order may mean that it has contempt for the Nigerian judiciary.

Also, the DSS has discarded the initial bail granted Nnamdi Kanu of the Independent People of Biafra. Before he was finally denied bail, Kanu had been granted bail by both the Magistrate and Federal High Courts, which was jettisoned by the DSS. Instead of granting him bail as ordered by the courts, the DSS which was keeping him in its custody, decided to prefer charges against him.

Some of the judges had a dose of the force of the DSS when their houses were raided in five different states and the FCT on Friday night. Though they claimed to have come with search warrants, it was generally believed that the force employed by the security operatives did not match the calibre of the judges who were slammed into detention at the headquarters of the organisation as they were neither armed nor did they resist arrest.

Though there are insinuations that the Nigerian judiciary is corrupt, some Nigerians are of the opinion that in fighting corruption in this arm of government, the Federal Government and the security agencies must have been armed with enough evidence to charge the accused judges to court immediately.

The DSS had, in what it called a sting operation, arrested Sylvester Ngwuta and Inyang Okoro, both of the Supreme Court; the suspended Presiding Justice of the Court of Appeal, Ilorin Division, Justice Mohammed Tsamiya; Justice Kabiru Auta of the Kano State High Court and Justice Adeniyi Ademola of the Federal High Court, Abuja.

Others arrested were a former Chief Judge of Enugu State, Justice I. A. Umezulike, and Mu’azu Pindiga of the Federal High Court, Gombe Division.

They were released on bail on Monday evening after a public outcry.

For now, the DSS is continuing in its unbridled trampling on the judiciary, an arm of government that President Muhammadu Buhari says he holds in high esteem. The actions of this security outfit which is responsible to him seem not in tandem with such claim.

By Olusola Fabiyi