Court Declares Detention Of Ex-FCT Minister, Bala Mohammed As Ilegal

COURT DECLARES DETENTION OF EX-FCT MINISTER, BALA MOHAMMED UNLAWFUL

Court Orders EFCC To Pay N5m To Ex-FCT Minister, Bala Mohammed

A Federal High Court sitting in Abuja has declared the detention of the former Minister of the FCT, Bala Mohammed, as unlawful and a violation of his right to liberty.

The court, in a judgment delivered by Justice Hussein Baba-Yusuf, held that the detention of the ex-Minister after he was granted bail by a court of competent jurisdiction, amounted to a flagrant disobedience to the judicial process and a gross abuse of his fundamental human rights.

Consequently, the court ordered Economic And Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to pay the sum of N5million to the applicant as compensation for his illegal detention.

The court noted that though his arrest by the EFCC could not be faulted, it said his detention beyond the statutory period of time, amounted to a violation of his rights under section 46 (1) and (2) of the 1999 constitution.

Naija News learnt that the Court also dismissed EFCC’s claim that the erstwhile Minister was kept in detention based on his alleged complicity in many fraudulent activities, including his alleged involvement in the award of fictitious contracts worth N1billion, as well as the allocation of plots of land to his family members.