The Federal High Court in Abuja today was told that the weapons found in the Asokoro residence of the former National Security Adviser, Colonel Muhammadu Sambo Dasuki retired barely 48 hours after he left Office in 2015 belong to the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA).
The weapons were said to be for the use of the Security Details attached to him as the National Security Adviser (NSA) for protection purposes.
These were contained in Dasuki’s statement made to the operatives of the Department of State Security Service (DSS) tendered and admitted as exhibit by Justice Adeniyi Ademola in the ongoing trial of Dasuki on charges of unlawful possession of arms.
A prosecution witness, Mr. Samuel Ogbu who is an operative of DSS indicated this when he was asked to read in the open court the statement made by Dasuki during his interrogation by DSS before he was charged to court.
Under cross examination by counsel to Dasuki Mr. Ahmed Raji (SAN), the witness said that Dasuki in his statement confirmed that weapons where for the ONSA and for the protection of the NSA.
The witness also said that Dasuki claimed in his written statement that the weapons were to be returned to the ONSA by the security details at the end of the day.
Ogwu who was asked by Dasuki’s lawyer to read a portion of the statement of the defendant to the open court admitted that Dasuki in the first paragraph of his statement made it clear that the weapons belong to the ONSA and not his personal belonging.
The witness further said he could not remember the date Dasuki left office as NSA but however insisted that the interrogation was conducted after he had left office.
Answering another question, the witness, who claimed to have spent 34 years in the service admitted that the NSA is entitled to security details as the coordinator of activities for all security agencies in the country.
The operative claimed that the DSS did not issued the weapon to the former NSA but admitted he would not know whether the weapons were issued to Dasuki by the military authority.
Also under cross examination, the witness admitted that he had never being to the armory of the Nigerian Army, Airforce, Navy, Police, National Intelligence Agency and DMI and would not know whether the weapons found in Dasuki’s house were issued to him by any of the agencies.
“I am aware that the Office of the NSA coordinates the activities of all security agencies in this country comprising Police, Army, Airforce, Navy, DSS, and DMI among others and my evidence in this trial relates only to what happens in the DSS.”
Earlier in his evidence in Chief, the witness had claimed that the house of Dasuki was searched based on intelligence report and that some weapons including powerful rifles were recovered.
He said that as a follow-up to the recovery, he was invited to participate in the interrogation of Dasuki to know the ownership of the weapons and for what purposes they were meant in the house.
The witness claimed that the interrogation was freely conducted and fully recorded with electronic gadgets and that Dasuki’s statement was also recorded when it was being made voluntarily.
Led in evidence by the counsel to the Federal, Government, Chief Dipo Okpeseyi (SAN), the witness said that the DSS decided to interrogate the ex-NSA on the weapons because of their sophistication.
The witness added that ordinarily such weapons were not usually issued to ordinary individuals because of their capacities and that licence were not usually issued to individuals to purchase or carry them.
Ogwu told the court that parts of the guns, Tavor Assault Rifles were imported into the country by the Federal Government following the crises of the insurgency, especially Boko Haram so as to enable the country’s security personnel to have an edge over terrorists.
Further hearing is expected to continue.
Meanwhile, Former National Security Adviser NSA, Col. Sambo Dasuki has told the ECOWAS Community Court of Justice sitting in Abuja that the federal government has no legal or moral justification for his continued incarceration.
Dasuki who spoke through his counsel, Robert Emukperuo on Wednesday while making his final address predicated his stance on Sections 293-296 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act ACJA 2015 which outlines the procedure for keeping a suspect in detention for not more than two weeks.
“To accentuate the illegality of the arrest and detention of the applicant, the ACJA 2015, S.293 to 296 thereof, set out the procedure for the detention of any person pending trial or investigation. And in summary, that procedure requires judicial intervention by a magistrate for it to be carried out and the maximum detention time-frame is two weeks,” he submitted.
Emukperuo had earlier filed an application to amend the originating application by including additional reliefs, a request the court granted, ordering the defendant to respond, if any, within 15 days to the issues raised in the amendment.
He prayed the court to order the release of his client and as well order the government to pay N500 million as compensation to Mr Dasuki.
He recalled how several courts had granted Dasuki bail and how President Muhammadu Buhari had stated in a media chat that the ex-NSA cannot just be released.
He said his client’s arrest and detention by the defendant is without any legal justification.
“The critical issue that needs to be resolved is whether there is any legal justification for the detention of the applicant by the defendant”, he said, adding that the only justification in the amended statement of defence adduced by the defendant for detaining the applicant is the recourse to national security.
“They have not adduced before this court any judicial procedure that they have relied on in incarcerating the applicant.
“They have equally not relayed to the court any domestic legislation whatsoever to justify the detention of the applicant.
“My lord I submit that this is a classic case of arbitrary and illegal arrest”, he added.
The counsel further submitted that the government has defied all known legal instruments or legislation by not following its own laws.
He said apart from its complete disdain for the laws of the land, government has also not followed judicial orders given by courts of competent jurisdiction.
Emukperuo said on the issue of being in possession of arms, Dasuki was granted bail on self-recognition and the Ministry of Justice did not oppose the application for bail, wondering why they had to still keep him in detention having not opposed the bail application if they knew he was a security risk. “It is a spurious defence conceived in bad faith, and I urge the court to dismiss it”, he pleaded
The defendant is expected to present his statement of defence tomorrow following which a date for judgment would be fixed.
Presiding Judge, Justice Friday Nwoke ordered the defendant to ensure that his two witnesses are in court tomorrow for oral evidence.
