The Federal Government will on Tuesday
(tomorrow)arraign a former National Security Adviser, Col. Sambo Dasuki
(retd.), before a Federal High Court in Abuja for allegedly being in
possession of firearms without license.
The Department of State Security Service
had, in a statement by one of its officials, Tony Opuiyo, on August 24,
2015, said that it had charged Dasuki with the alleged offence.
The service did not disclose details of
the charge but our correspondent learnt that the Chief Judge of the
Federal High Court, Justice Ibrahim Auta, had on Friday assigned the
case to Justice Adeniyi Ademola, who is the court’s vacation judge.
The DSS said it had charged Dasuki with
possession of firearms without licence, an offence punishable under
section 27(I)(a)(I) of the Firearms Act Cap F28 Laws of the Federation
of Nigeria 2004, based on evidence so far obtained.
Findings by The Punch showed that the Federal Ministry of Justice had since taken over the case.
It
was learnt that the trial ought to have commenced last week but it
could not go on because of the directive of the Chief Justice of
Nigeria, Justice Mahmmud Mohammed, to various heads of court not to sit
throughout the week to enable lawyers and interested judges to
participate in the just-concluded one week-long Annual Bar Conference of
the Nigerian Bar Association.
The DSS had on July 16, 2015 searched
the ex-NSA’s residences in Asokoro, Abuja; and Sokoto, where its
operatives claimed to have recovered seven high calibre rifles,
including magazines and military gears in the houses located at 13, John
Khadya Street, and 46, Nelson Mandela Street, both at Asokoro, Abuja;
and 3 Sabon Birni Road, Gwiwa Area, Sokoto, Sokoto State.
The agency also said that it recovered
12 new vehicles, including five bullet-proof cars from Dasuki’s house,
the ownership of which could not be explained by the embattled former
NSA, and which investigators believed must have been purchased with
proceeds of corruption.
The DSS had claimed that it searched
Dasuki’s homes “based on credible intelligence linking the immediate
past NSA with alleged plans to commit treasonable felony against the
Nigerian state.”
The statement partly read, “You may
recall that on July 16, 2015, the Department of State Services carried
out search operations on properties belonging to the immediate past
National Security Adviser, Col. Mohammed Sambo Dasuki (retd.), in Abuja
and Sokoto.
“This action was necessitated by
credible intelligence, which linked him to acts capable of undermining
national security. The search operations led to the recovery of large
cache of arms and ammunition among other things and for which further
investigation was conducted.
“Consequently, on Monday, August 24,
2015, he was charged to court based on evidence so far obtained, but
which relates to possession of firearms without licence punishable under
section 27(i)(a)(i) of the Firearms Act Cap F28 LFN 2004.”
The secret service said Dasuki’s
arraignment was in line with democratic practice and “our avowed
commitment to the rule of law, in which nobody is deemed to be above the
law, no matter how highly placed in the society.”
(The Punch)
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