ABUJA, Federal Republic of Nigeria. Former National Security Adviser (NSA), Colonel Sambo Mohammed Dasuki (rtd), on Monday, dragged the Federal Government before a Federal High Court in Abuja seeking enforcement of his fundamental human rights to dignity and security of his life.
Dasuki is asking the court for a mandatory order compelling the Federal Government and its agents, especially operatives of the Department of the State Services (DSS) to vacate his house at 13, John Kadija Street, Asokoro, with immediate effect. In the suit filed by his counsel, Ahmed Adeniyi Raji (SAN), Dasuki pleaded with the court to stop the siege laid on his house and to remove all impediments, human and non-human barricade said to have hindered the permission granted him since November 3, 2015 to travel abroad for his treatment by the court.
In a motion on notice filed pursuant to sections 36(5) 37 and 41 of the 1999 Constitution and sections 1(1) and (2) and 266 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act 2015, Dasuki also sought for order of the court extending the order of November 3 permitting treatment of his ailment abroad. The motion on notice was premised on five grounds including the request to enforce the three-week permission granted him by the court on November 3 to keep a re-rescheduled medical appointment with his physician abroad. He claimed that the Federal Government, acting through the operatives of the DSS and other security agencies, had frustrated the said order by barricading his apartment since the permission was granted.
The former NSA also requested the court to extend the order of Number 3 since it could not be implemented due to the action of the security agents. Dasuki further asked the court to dispose with his appearance in court for the purpose of this application because of the alleged constant threats to his life from the security agencies. In a 13-paragraph affidavit in support of the motion, Dasuki claimed that following the order of November 3 permitting him to go abroad for medical attention, he immediately purchased his travel ticket and boarding pass issued to him to accomplish the trip.
He averred that shortly after, the operatives of the DSS, acting on behalf of the Federal Government, stormed and barricaded his house at Asokoro in brazen defiance of the court order and prevented him from travelling out. Dasuki asserted that the siege on his house ought to be immediately removed and that as a result of the aggression of the Federal Government, his life has been under constant threat. No date has been fixed for hearing.
Credit: Tribune (Nigeria)
