A Federal High Court in Abuja has declared unlawful the detention of a journalist, Jones Abiri for two years without trial by the Department of State Service (DSS).
In a judgment on Thursday, Justice Nnamdi Dimgba awarded N10 (as damages) and N500, 000 (as cost) against the DSS.
The judgment was on a fundamental rights enforcement suit filed by Abiri, through the law firm of Femi Falana (SAN), which was prosecuted by a lawyer in the frim, Samuel Ogala.
Justice Dimgba was of the view that, although the DSS has the power, under the law, to arrest anyone upon reasonable suspicion, the security agency was without powers to detain an individual beyond the time provided by the Constitution.
He held that the decision by the DSS to detain Abiri for two years from July 21, 2016 until he was later taken to a Magistrate’s Court in Abuja in July this year, and his eventual release last month, amounted to a violation of his right to liberty, guaranteed by the Constitution.
The judge, who noted that event with the DSS’ claim that the applicant was arrested upon suspicion of destruction of oil pipelines and committing treasonable offences, said that Jones was accused of committing serious offence, was not a ground for the DSS to detain him beyond the time stipulated in the Constitution.
He wondered why the DSS, who claimed to have obtained a voluntary confession statement from the applicant since August 16, 2016, did not charge Abiri with the offences of damaging oil pipelines before the Magistrate’s Court, but rather charged with a different offence.
Justice Dimgba distinguished the case of Abiri from that of Asari Dokubo in which the Supreme Court held that national security precedes individual’s rights.
The judge noted that the facts of the Abiri case is different from that of Dokubo in that while Dokubo was charged to court and the state objected to bail on the ground that national security was threatened, in this case, Abiri was never charged, but kept in solitary confinement.
He said was possible that the respondent could have conveniently charged the applicant to court within the time provided in the Constitution.
Justice Dimgba said from evidence before the court, it was obvious that the DSS violated the applicant’s right to liberty by detaining him for two years without charging him to court within the time allowed by law.
He also declared as unlawful Abiri’s detention for two years.
Abiri, described as the publisher of a Bayelsa State-based weekly paper, Weekly Source, was arrested by operatives of DSS on July 21, 2016 in Yenagoa the state capital) and brought to Abuja where he was detained until July this year without trial.
The DSS had accused him of engaging in economic sabotage by destroying oil pipelines and running a militant organization called the Niger Delta Liberation Force.
Upon his release, he filed the fundamental rights enforcement suit, challenging his detention and prayed for N200m damages.