The Federal High Court in Abuja today granted bail to the immediate-past National Security Adviser (NSA), Col. Sambo Dasuki (retd), from the custody of the Department of State Service where he had been detained for two and a half years.
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, which the DSS had not obeyed.