Lawyers Describe Ubah's Ilegal Detention as Rape of Constitution

There is heightened expectation that the Department of State Services (DSS) will comply with the order of Jus­tice Muhammed Idris of the Federal High Court, Lagos, to produce Dr Patrick Ifeanyi Ubah in court today.
Ubah has been in the cus­tody of DSS since May 6. Jus­tice Idris had ordered the DSS to produce Ubah in court last Friday – and to show cause why he should not be released un­conditionally.
But the DSS defied the or­der and refused to produce Ubah in court. This made the judge to extend the order to to­day.

Meanwhile, Nigerians from different walks of life have con­tinued to condemn the con­tinued detention of Ubah, the Chairman of Capital Oil and Gas Industries Ltd., over a commercial transaction with the Nigerian National Petrole­um Corporation (NNPC).
Some prominent lawyers have added their voice to the condemnation of the contin­ued detention of Ubah by the DSS.
Barrister Charles Olumba, the Principal Partner of Eg­wurugwu Chambers, in Ow­erri, the Imo State capital, said yesterday that the DSS action is a complete rape of the na­tion’s constitution and against the tenets of the law.
He told newsmen that the fundamental rights of Ubah as enshrined in the 1999 Consti­tution (as amended) as well as the United Nations Charter of Equity of which Nigeria is sig­natory to have been violated.
The lawyer pointed out that the law gives the DSS an im­petus of 24 hours detention on arrest to arraign the accused in court for trial and other ac­tions, stressing that the accused is perceived to be innocent be­fore the law.
According to him, “there is an indication that in this coun­try, her citizens’ rights are of­ten trampled upon without re­course. This is an insult on the judiciary and a threat to the nation’s hard-earned democ­racy”.
“There is no legal backing for the DSS to keep Ubah in detention for over two weeks without trial. His rights have been violated.”
The legal luminary advised the DSS to retrace the action and obey the court order since the company is a legal enti­ty and it transacted business with NNPC which is another legal entity.
Also, Barr. Kissinger Ikeokwu, a human rights ac­tivist and frontline legal prac­titioner in Imo State, described Ubah’s detention as “absolutely wrong and reckless on the part of the Federal Government. It is a total infringement on his fundamental human rights and the DSS have no business to prosecute him because what happened was purely a con­tractual agreement.”
Ikeokwu continued: “This kind of impunity is being done in a country were the Acting President is a Professor of Law and a Senior Advocate of Ni­geria (SAN). It is totally unfair that the rights of Nigerian citi­zens are being abused and vio­lated by her own government.”
He insisted that due to the impunity of the security agen­cies, the country, under the present democratic dispensa­tion, has gone “two steps for­ward and 10 steps backwards. It is quite absurd that Nigeri­an security agencies have no respect for the citizens’ funda­mental human rights.”
Similarly, an Onitsha-based human rights lawyer, Barr. M. F. Uzoigwe, of the Madukaego Uzoigwe and Associates Cham­bers, told The AUTHORITY that the DSS has done every­thing illegal in arresting Ubah without first conducting its investigation into the alleged crime.
He condemned the de­tention of the business mogul beyond the constitutionally acceptable period without ar­raigning him in court.
Uzoigwe added that diso­beying a court order and go­ing beyond its constitutional role to perform the duty of debt recovery was against the spir­it and intent of the 1999 Con­stitution.
Barr. A.N.C Akonanya of the of the Akonanya and Co/Obochie Chambers, Awka, said: “My take on the continued detention of Ifeanyi Ubah with­out trying him in a law court is that the agency has left its con­stitutional duty to go into oth­er things. The DSS has its roles and duties as provided by its enabling Act, none of which is debt recovery”.
“Even if Ubah has any case to answer in his transaction with the NNPC, it is a civil case which the ordinary court can settle. Even if the DSS should come into the matter, there is a period stipulated by the law (24 hours) within which the accused person must be ar­raigned. It is unlawful to keep him this long in detention and even go as long as disobeying an order issued by a competent court that he should be brought to court on a particular date.”
“Some federal agencies are reminding us of the horrors of military regime without un­derstanding that Nigeria has long passed the era”.
He urged the DSS to be civ­il enough to do what is need­ful.
A rights activist and an Abia State-based constitu­tional layer, Dr. Anthony Ag­bazuere, called for the imme­diate release of Ubah from the DSS detention.
Agbazuere described his continued detention as “ab­surd, total illegality and an in­fringement of his fundamental rights.”
He argued that it would be illogical for the NNPC to owe Ubah a whopping N16 billion and persecute him for owing them N11 billion.
“If the information we have that the NNPC is owing him N16 billion is correct, they should pay him the balance and apologise to him,” Agba­zuere said.
The former Commissioner for Information and Strategies, Abia State, also added that the DSS should apologise to Ubah for holding him illegally if it is proven that NNPC owes him N16 billion.
CNPP declares arrest political vendetta
The Conference of Nigeria Political Parties (CNPP) in An­ambra State has declared that it is enough of the DSS intimida­tion and harassment of Ubah.
A statement issued by state Secretary of CNPP, Comrade Peter Okala, read in part: “…enough is enough on the rascal­ity of DSS, the detention before investigation is an act of vendet­ta and envy of the highest order, that the Nigerian youths need encouragement and not perse­cution.”
“Let there be an investiga­tion that conforms with inter­nationally accepted standard that is free from abuse, judge­ment and execution on the pages of newspapers.”
Angry youths ground commercial activities in Nnewi
Angry youths of Nnewi community in Nnewi North Government Area of An­ambra State on Wednesday trooped to the streets to pro­test the continued incarcera­tion of their kinsman, Ubah, by the DSS.
The youths, under the ae­gis of Nnewi Youth Forum, carried placards and marched through all the quarters and major markets in the commer­cial and industrial town chant­ing anti-government’s songs.
Traders in Agbaedo Spare Parts Market, New Auto Spare Parts Market, Nkwo Major Market, Orie-Agbo Market and other markets in the town locked their shops and joined the solidarity march.
Inscriptions in some of the placards read: “DSS, Obey Court Order; Please, Take Ifeanyi Ubah to Court, We Are in a Democratic Era; This Is Democracy, Not Military Rule; Is There No More Respect for Rule of Law and Human Rights in Nigeria?”
Addressing newsmen dur­ing the rally, the group’s Presi­dent-General, Hon. Onyekwelu Udeze, and the Secretary-Gen­eral, Prince Ezenwa Nwachuk­wu, said: “Nnewi Youth Forum has condemned in strong terms the continued detention of Dr. Patrick Ifeanyi Ubah by the DSS, without trial, not to talk of obeying a court order.”
“We have watched with keen interest the harassment and detention of Ubah by this security agency over a business transaction with the NNPC where both parties have claims.”
“It is now public knowledge that some persons or agencies have vowed to nail Dr. Ubah by all means. They have pur­sued this agenda with vigour like the proverbial stubborn fly that follows the corpse to the grave. These enemies of pro­gress have not come to terms with the historic success and contributions of Dr. Ubah to the nation’s economic growth and job creation, particularly among the youths.”
“We condemn a situation where people are detained be­fore investigations are carried out on the issue leading to their arrest. The refusal of the DSS to respect a court order is uncon­stitutional and it goes against the very foundation of our le­gal system. This breeds impu­nity, and no reasonable govern­ment will condone it”.
“We wish to emphatically state that the DSS should obey the court order and arraign Ubah to court or release him without further delay”.

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