Kwara Chief of Staff: Court summons IGP over refusal of Order

An Ilorin High Court on Friday summoned the Inspector General of Police, Mr. Ibrahim Idris, to appear before it on Wednesday next week to justify the continued detention of Kwara state Chief of Staff, Alhaji Abdulwahab Babatunde who was arrested in connection to the April 5, 2018 armed robbery in Offa.l

ROYAL NEWS reports that Counsel to the suspect, Adebayo Adelodun (SAN), bemoaned the failure of the police to release the Chief of Staff who has been granted bail by another high court in the state is unlawful.

Adelodun noted that the refusal of the police to obey the court order on AbdulWahab was worrisome as it portends grave dangers to the deepening of democracy and might lead to a loss of confidence in the fairness of the police to handle such cases among the populace.

The police was not represented at the proceeding although Adelodun told the court they had been served all the processes related to the case. The case was brought to Ilorin following the refusal of a Federal High court in Abuja to hear it as the alleged crime was committed in Kwara state.

Similarly, the Personal Assistant to the Governor of Kwara State Mr. Lekan Alabi, has been in detention since May 28, 2018 and has not been arraigned before any court of law, a development his counsel, Adelodun, argued is in contravention of the provisions of Order 4, Rules 3 and 4 of the Fundamental Rights enforcement procedure rules (2009) as well as Sections 34, 35, 36, 37, 41 And 46 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

Making the order at its sitting, Justice Adebayo Yusuf said there was nothing in the constitution that allows the detention of a suspect without trial for a period beyond 24 hours where there is a court or 48 hours in environment where there is no court.

In a short ruling following the application by Adelodun for an interim bail for the suspect pending the determination of the substantive application, the court aligned with the position of the SAN but decided to allow the police another opportunity to defend its position.

“The position of the law is as stated by the leaned silk, however I’m inclined to hear from the respondent to come to court and show cause why the applicant should not be released from their custody, since they have been served the motion on notice”, the judge said adding that it is clear that the police cannot change the constitution.

The case was however adjourned till Wednesday August 1 2018 when the bail application is expected to be put on notice.