Justice Ajoke Adepoju of an Abuja High Court on Tuesday threatened to send the Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Hafiz Ringim, to prison over contempt of court.
The judge said she premised her decision on the refusal of the IGP to comply with orders directing him to produce one Dahiru Yakubu Aliyu in court.
The suspect has, since January 7, been in detention at the Force Criminal Investigation Department, Area 10, Abuja without being charged to court.
Delivering ruling on an originating motion filed by the lawyer to the suspect, Mr. Hassan Germa, Justice Adepoju ordered the police to release him unconditionally pending when it was ready to file a formal charge against him in court.
The court had also gave an order declaring the arrest and continuous detention of the suspect since January 7 without prosecution as “wrong, unconstitutional, and amounts to a violation of the applicant’s rights to personal liberty, fair hearing and freedom of movement as enshrined in Section 35, 36 and 41 of the 1999 constitution.”
Alternatively, the judge ordered that the applicant should be admitted “to bail upon such terms or conditions, pending when the respondents will file a formal charge against him.”
The court had also given an order for the respondents to pay the applicant the sum of N10m only for the wrongful arrest, detention, humiliation and psychological trauma occasioned by the arrest and detention.
The suspect, a final year student of Computer Science at the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University of Science and Technology, Bauchi, was said to have completed his studies and awaiting his posting for the national youth service.
He invited and detained at Bompai Police Station, Kano on January 7 and later transferred to Abuja.
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