Baba Suwe gets conditional bail

•Supporters hail actor, boo NDLEA
By FAITH OMORUYI,BUKOLA ANJOLAOLUWA and YETUNDE DAUDU
Detained ace comedian, Babatunde Omidina aka Baba Suwe turned a hero yesterday as a tumultous crowd of fans welcomed him to Ikeja High Court.
 Angry Lagosians rained curses on the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) as he was brought to court.

 Shouts of “shame on you NDLEA!” rent the air as the convoy brought the drug trafficking suspect in a white Urvan bus with registration number FG6-T02 to court at about 8am.

 The slightly emaciated actor, clad in white lace waved in appreciation to the crowd that besieged the premises of the court early in the morning.

 During the resumed hearing on the N100million suit filed at the Ikeja High Court, the trial judge, Justice Yetunde Idowu gave Omidina a reprieve as he was granted bail.
 The bail is in line with the already existing order by the Federal High Court that the suspect remained in the agency’s custody till Friday.
 The bail, according to the judge, would take absolute effect on Friday, November 4, if the applicant did not excrete the suspected narcotic drugs.

 Justice Idowu granted Baba Suwe bail of N500, 000 with one surety in like sum. She also ordered that the surety’s status and address must be verified by the chief registrar of the court.
 The court also directed that Baba Suwe’s travel passport with the NDLEA be deposited with the chief registrar’s office, pending the determination of the substantive suit
 However, while reading her ruling, Justice Idowu restated that the liberty of the applicant had been grossly violated. “There is no order superior to the constitution.

 “He is due for immediate release. I am going to grant him bail and if there is a development, you should inform the court.”
 The case was adjourned till Friday, November 4, 2011 for report of compliance and a date of judgement since there was no report that could clearly indicate how long it would take for the alleged substance to be excreted.
 When the case came up for hearing, Baba Suwe told the court that he had been feeding himself because the agency’s food usually came late as they gave him breakfast by 11.00a.m but added that he had not been harassed in any way and he was allowed to use his medications regularly

 While addressing the court, Bamidele Aturu, counsel to Baba Suwe told the court that the applicant’s arrest and continuous detention was illegal and against the constitution of the country, adding that the NDLEA had no solid case and had breached the fundamental rights of his client.

 “The case of the respondent is that the applicant was arrested at Muritala Muhammed Airport on October 12, 2011 on his way to Paris and some tests proved that he ingested some substances suspected to be narcotics. The law in Nigeria is that anybody is innocent until proven guilty by a competent court of law.

 “The law does not allow any agency to arrest people before searching for evidence, this isn’t permissible under the constitution as Sections 35 (1) (4) & (5) are provisions of the constitution to be complied with.
 “The doctrine of substantial compliance has no place in the constitutional law of fundamental human rights application. The rule must be adhered to, the applicant was arrested at Muritala Muhammed Airport, which is less than 10km radius of the court and till this morning, he has not been arraigned before a competent court of law

 “The agency did not proceed to the Federal High Court to procure a detention order and this is nine days after he was arrested and they have been served with the processes of this court. We submit that the period between October 12 to 21, 2011 when the order was procured is unaccounted for, the court should hold that the continuous detention of the applicant is wanton violation and a flagrant disregard of his fundamental human rights to liberty.”
 Aturu also added that the court needed to send a strong signal so that such would not happen again and the continuous detention of the applicant on the basis of conflicting and contradicting evidence would amount to a judicial imprimatur, asking the court to award damages as infringement of right had been proved.

 Counsel to NDLEA, Femi Oloruntoba told the court to oppose Baba Suwe’s application since they arrested him based on the suspicion that he ingested some narcotic substances and he had been subjected to various scans
 He stated that the first scan which was an NCCT evaluation of the abdomen and pelvis revealed that there were multiple hyper dense nodular particles in the upper gastro-intestinal tract, consistent with large amount of drug ingestion but the nature of the drug would be ascertained by relevant laboratory investigations. Oloruntoba further stated that the latest scan result showed that the foreign body was moving down from the upper abdomen and it would be a matter of time before it would be excreted, though he could not give the court a time frame
 He further submitted that the applicant’s detention was in line with the NDLEA Act, adding that they took advantage of Section 35 (5) (b) of the constitution

 Baba Suwe had filed an application before the court for the enforcement of his fundamental human rights against the NDLEA, praying the court for a declaration that his arrest and continued detention since October 12 by the agency was a gross violation of his fundamental human rights
 He also asked that the court declare that his detention was contrary to Section 4,5 and 6 of the African Charter on Human Rights, an order releasing him from detention and a public apology in conspicuous pages of two national dailies.