I was treated like a criminal – Baba Suwe

Posted by admin Headlines, NDLEA (Anti-Drug Agency) Monday, November 14th, 2011

Ae comedian, Babatunde Omidina (aka Baba Suwe) has narrated his ordeal at the hands of the officials of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), alleging that he was treated like a common criminal while in custody of the agency.

Addressing a press conference in Lagos on Sunday through his lawyer, Bamidele Aturu, the comedian said he was arrested even before being taken to the scanner machine for test, and that he was subjected to highly dehumanising treatment by the NDLEA officials.

Baba Suwe was arrested on October 12 by NDLEA officials at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, on his way to France, and was released after 24 days based on the orders of Justice Yetunde Idowu of the Lagos High Court in Ikeja.

Speaking further on the issue, Aturu said, in compliance with the order of Justice Idowu of an Ikeja High Court, his client went to the NDLEA office last Friday, and it was clear that the agency as of today, “has no case against him anymore, because all his seized items had been released to him.

“And now it has become very clear to us that NDLEA had made up its mind to arrest him even before any scan. They apparently were acting on a tipoff, because as he got there, a woman just appeared and asked him to proceed to the NDLEA counter for the test.

“It was after the scan that they now told him that he was positive and he asked them positive to what? After that he met with an NDLEA official by name Femi, where for the first time, he was treated like a common criminal.

“I am sure many Nigerians are not aware of this. He was leg-chained and at the appropriate time, we are going to take necessary action against that sad development. He was asked to lie down and some people made attempt to beat him, but at the end of the day, reason prevailed.

“At a point he asked them, ‘why are you disgracing me? Why are you putting me in leg chains?’ I’m sure many Nigerians will be shocked to hear this,” Aturu said.

He alleged that during one of the series of test conducted by NDLEA on Baba Suwe, some of the medical officials put gloves in his hands and asked him to be looking for the alleged foreign substances in his excreta.

“This is highly demeaning. Baba Suwe’s right to dignity of human person and personal liberty was badly infringed upon by the NDLEA. I mean, if a man of his age could be asked to put his hands in his excreta, then that shows a lot,” Aturu stressed.

Speaking further, Aturu said Baba Suwe’s case would be used as a test case to ensure that law enforcement agencies comply with necessary due process of law in their operations, adding that NDLEA’s chairman should have resigned by now on moral ground because what happened was a clear systemic failure.

He said as from today, he would start to send letters to all the institutions that participated in the production of various scan reports relied upon by the NDLEA, including the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH).

-Tribunewp_posts