Nkechi Bright Ewere

By virtue of section 35 (5) of the 1999 Con
stitution (as amended), every person has a right to be charged and fairly tried. By the provisions of the above section a reasonable trial of a suspect means:
(a)    In the case of an arrest or detention in any place where there is a court of competent jurisdiction with a radius of forty kilometers a period of one day and
(b)    In any other case, a period of two days or such longer period as the circumstance may be considered by the court to be reasonable.
This provision is a mirage to detainees within Port Harcourt and its environs with the continual closure of the Magistrate and High Courts.
In the same vein, there is a provision to section 35(1) of the constitution (as amended) that “a person who is charged with an offence, who  has been detained in unlawful custody awaiting trial shall not continue to be kept in such detention for a period longer than the maximum period of imprisonment prescribed for the offence”.
On the 15th and 16th Nov. 2013 it will be recalled that SSS officials detained El Rufai Finotel Akwa. In a suit filed by El Rufai (FHC/AKW/CS/310/13) at the Federal High Court Akwa.
The Judge, Justice Ibraham Bature Gafai held that the SSS has no statutory powers under the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 or under any Nigerian law to detain El Rufai at without showing cause to a court of competent jurisdiction. The court therefore ordered the SSS to publish an apology in two national dailies for the unlawful  and unconstitutional violation of his liberty.
The court also made a declaration that the detention of Mallam Nasir El-Rufai without charge, at the premises of Finotel Hotel, Akwa, Anambra State between 15th and 16th November, 2013 by agents of the SSS, constitutes a gross violation of the applicant’s right to personal liberty and freedom of movement respectively guaranteed under Section 35 and 41 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended) and Article 6 and 12 (1) of the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights (Ratification and Enforcement) Act CAP 49 laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004 and is therefore unconstitutional and illegal.
Also an order for the award of compensation was granted to the applicant in the sum of N2,000,000.00 (two million naira only) for the unlawful and unconstitutional detention/violation of his right to personal liberty, freedom of movement, freedom of association and expression. Now for the many cases of unconstitutional detention in Rivers State, who will be the respondent when they’ll finally have the privilege to file their different cases of unlawful detention?

Nkechi Bright Ewere