ABUJA (Sundiata Post) – The Nigerian Army said it has released Colonel Nicholas Ashinze, the former Military Assistant to former National Security Adviser (NSA) Col. Sambo Dasuki (rtd) from detention, in compliance with the court ruling 10 days earlier to that effect.
The Director of Army Relations (DAPR), Col. Sani Usman confirmed this yesterday, in response to enquiries, saying Ashinze was confined to the barracks for questioning at the Nigerian Army Garrison Headquarters, Abuja.
Usman said that contrary to media reports, the Nigerian Army complied immediately with the court directive by releasing the serving officer from detention.
He clarified that the ex-aide to Dasuki has since been released but was confined within the Mogadishu Barracks, where he is undergoing interrogation alongside other military personnel.
He said: “These reports that the Army has not complied with the court ruling is simply not true. He has been released from detention but doesn’t have accommodation in the Barracks. So his movement is being confined to the Barracks because he is still being investigated.
“He is not the only one being investigated. The truth is that he been released from detention and people should do proper investigation, ask the right question before writing to the contrary.”
PRNigeria, which reported that the serving Colonel was still being held incommunicado by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and Nigerian Army in defiance of the high court order of March 14, has also confirmed his release at 2pm on Wednesday.
It said that Ashinze, who had been under the custody of the EFCC and the Military Authority, has already reunited with his family.
A Judge of an Abuja High Court sitting in Jabi, Justice Yusuf Haliru had on March 14, ordered the EFCC, and the Nigerian Army, to release Ashinze, who served as Military Assistant to former NSAs, Dasuki and the late Gen. Patrick Azazi
The senior officer, who was detained before resuming his new posting as Defence Attaché in Germany, had been in detention since December 23, 2015.
In his judgment, Justice Yusuf Haliru, had ordered the anti-graft agency and the army to immediately release the applicant on self-recognition, saying his detention for over three months without trial, was “illegal, wrongful, unlawful and constituted a blatant violation of the fundamental rights of the applicant.”
The court also ordered immediate release of documents and items the anti-graft agency seized from the house of the applicant.
Justice Haliru, who cautioned the EFCC and the Army which he said acted as if Nigeria was still under military dictatorship, said: “The EFCC is a creation of the law. The court will not allow it to act as if it is above the law. It is remarkable to note that the motto of the EFCC is that nobody is above the law, yet they are acting as if they are above the law.
“The EFCC Act is not superior to the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. The respondents in this matter have not behaved as if we are in a civilised society. They have behaved as if we are in a military dictatorship where they arrest and release persons at will.”
The judge said the constitution stipulated that any person so detained should be charged to court within reasonable time not exceeding two months from the date of arrest.
Justice Haliru stressed that under section 36 of the 1999 constitution, as amended, an accused person is deemed innocent until his guilt is established. He therefore asked: “Why has the 1st respondent kept the applicant without bringing him to court? Why was the applicant, being a serving military officer who could be easily reached, not granted administrative bail? Or is it that the applicant has been found guilty and already serving his jail term?
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“Nobody should be subjected to the whims and caprices of the EFCC.
“The essence of the rule of law and constitutional provisions is to ensure a just balance between the ruler and the ruled, between the powerful and the weak.
“Though the EFCC has the responsibility to investigate financial crime, it must however conduct its operations in accordance with the rule of law.
“The court is empowered to guard against improper use of power by any member of the society or agency, EFCC inclusive.
“The detention of the applicant, for all intents and purposes, is not just unfair but unfortunate.
“We all support the fight against corruption but it must not be done with utter impunity and disregard to rule of law. The right to personal liberty is guaranteed every citizen of Nigeria by our constitution.
“Why has the first respondent failed to bring the applicant to court since December 2015? Is it that the first, second and third respondents already sentenced the applicant to jail in their own court?
“The continued detention of the applicant since December is a blatant violation of his fundamental human right”.
Then Justice Haliru thereafter declared that the respondents must comply with the court order and effect the release of the applicant.
