Nyanya bombing: Court asks Adoke to defend Terrorism Act
Boko Haram, Headlines Friday, December 5th, 2014A Federal High Court in Abuja has asked the Attorney-General of the Federation, Mr. Mohammed Adoke, to appear in court to defend the constitutionality of Section 27 of the Terrorism Prevention Act 2013 by which a suspect can be kept in custody for more than 90 days.
Justice Adeniyi Ademola gave the directive on Friday following a prayer by Aminu Ogwuche, the alleged mastermind of the bomb blast in Nyanya, a suburb of Abuja, on April 14, 2014.
Ogwuche is, through his fundamental rights suit, asking the court to declare that his continued detention by the Department of State Services without trial constitutes a violation of his constitutionally guaranteed rights.
Through his lawyer, Ahmed Raji (SAN), the applicant asked the court to quash the provision of Section 27 of the Terrorism Prevention Act 2013 as it infringed on section 35 (4) and (7) of the 1999 Constitution.
Section 27(1) of the Terrorism Prevention Act 2013 reads in part, “The court may, pursuant to an ex-parte application, grant an order for the detention of a suspect under this Act for a period not exceeding 90 days subject to renewal for a similar period until the conclusion of the investigation and prosecution of the matter that led to the arrest and detention is dispensed with.”
Justice Ademola on Friday said the prayer being a constitutional matter, there was the need to invite AGF as the chief law office of the nation or any of his officers to offer his opinion on the issue.
The DSS counsel, Clifford Osaghie, had opposed Ogwuche’s suit as he maintained that the agency had never breached any law with respect to the applicant’s case.
He maintained that the continued detention of Ogwuche was in compliance with section 27 of the Terrorism Prevention Act.
He added that the SSS had earlier obtained remand order from a Chief Magistrate’s Court, Kaduna and the Federal High Court sitting in Abuja.
The court consequently fixed December 17 for continuation of hearing.
-Punch
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on Dec 5 2014. Filed under Boko Haram, Headlines.
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