PDP National Publicity Secretary, Chief Olisa Metuh, has dragged the federal government before a Federal High Court in Lagos, seeking the enforcement of his fundamental human rights.
Metuh has been in EFCC custody since January 5 after some of the money from the looted $2.1bn meant to procure arms for the military, was found in the account of a company he owns.
EFCC operatives have disclosed that the sum traced to Metuh is N400m and that the PDP spokesperson has vowed not to return the funds and has also vowed not to have food while in their custody. The result has been the picture of the new Metuh you see up there.
In the suit filed through his lawyer, Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa, Metuh said his arrest was part of the grand plan of the ruling All Progressives Congress to silence the opposition and make Nigeria a one-party country.
The Punch tells the rest of the story:
Adegboruwa, who personally deposed to an affidavit of urgency in support of Metuh’s suit, averred that since his swearing-in May last year, President Muhammadu Buhari had launched “a massive attack upon the opposition Peoples Democratic Party, in the guise of fighting a nebulous anti-corruption war.”
The lawyer, who noted his role in the enthronement of democratic rule in Nigeria, including his malicious prosecution and detention for over six months by the military junta, claimed that Buhari had upon taking office reorganised the EFCC to hound the opposition.
Metuh, through Adegboruwa, sought a declaration that his detention by the EFCC without access to his family and lawyer, and without being charged to court, amounted to a violation of his fundamental rights guaranteed under sections 33, 34, 35, 38, 40, 41, 42, 43 and 44 of the Constitution.
Adegboruwa argued that Metuh’s detention also breached the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights (Ratification and Enforcement) Act, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004.
He expressed the fear that Metuh was being kept under untidy or unhygienic conditions, which might take a toll on his health, as the EFCC was not adequately funded.
“Nobody knows the present whereabouts of the applicant, as to his exact place of detention, his condition in the custody and how he is faring. Recently, detainees in the custody of the 1st respondent have been dying due to lack of proper care and adequate medical facilities, as the 1st respondent is not normally well-funded to function effectively, except to be used by the ruling government to hound the opposition,” Adegboruwa added.
He urged the court to order the EFCC and the Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami (SAN), sued as the 2nd defendant, to immediately release Metuh.
