The Federal High Court in Abuja on Monday granted bail to the
immediate-past National Security Adviser, Col. Sambo Dasuki (retd), from
the custody of the Department of State Service where he had been
detained for two and a half years, Punch has reported.
The judgement was delivered by Justice Ijeoma Ojukwu who ruled that
his detention since December 29, 2015, amounted to a violation of his
right to liberty.
The judge, who rejected the ex-NSA’s prayer for N5bn damages
granted him bail in the sum of N200m with two sureties who must either
be a civil servant of a minimum of Grade Level 16 in the Federal Civil
Service or private citizens who have landed properties in the municipal
areas of Abuja.
She ruled that the Federal Government’s contention that Dasuki was
being kept in custody on the grounds of his alleged threat to national
security and his alleged ongoing investigation for money laundering did
not warrant “abrogating his right”.
In granting him bail, the judge said should there be any further
reason to interrogate him, DSS could only invite and interview him
between the hours of 9am and 6pm on working days.
This judgment came about one year and nine months after the
Economic Community of West African States Court of Justice on October 4,
2016, ordered his release from illegal custody but which the DSS had
not obeyed.