Why it’s dangerous to release Dasuki, FG tells ECOWAS Court

Immediate National Security Adviser, Col. Sambo Dasuki (retd.),

The Federal Government on Thursday told the Economic Community of West African States that it would be dangerous to release the immediate National Security Adviser, Col. Sambo Dasuki (retd.), from custody because he constituted a threat to national security.

Dasuki was re-arrested on December 29, 2015 by the operatives of the Department of State Service shortly after he was released on bail from ‎Kuje Prisons, Abuja, with respect to his ongoing trial on three separate sets of charges.

The Federal Government on Thursday called two witnesses ‎to oppose a fundamental human rights enforcement suit filed before the ECOWAS Court by Dasuki seeking his release from the custody of the DSS.

Through its ‎witnesses and its lawyer, Mr. T. D Kabiru, who led the witnesses in evidence, the Federal Government said on Thursday that Dasuki was being held because he constituted threat to national security.

It added that the ex-NSA was also being held owing to his involvement in the over $2bn arms funds scam.

It also said given his pivotal role in the $2bn scam and the calibre of top politicians that had been fingered in the alleged fraud, Dasuki was also being kept in custody for his own safety.

It said with the quantum of  arms and ammunition alleged to be illegally kept in the ex-NSA’s  home in Abuja and recovered by security operatives, there was the general apprehension that he possessed more, which the state had yet to discover.

It argued the Dasuki’s detention was justified based on the intelligence and security report in the disposal of the nation’s security agencies, and  that national security superseded individual’s security.

‎ The lawyer said, “The position of the defence, which is not controverted by the applicant, is that the arms and ammunition recovered during the search (at Dasuki’s home) are not the only arms and ammunition in the possession of the applicant.

 “There is fear that he has more.

“There is intelligence report that some are yet to be recovered. That we fear he has more is a ground to hold him. There are ongoing investigations which are revealing fresh facts concerning him.

“The right of an individual cannot supersede the security of a country when there is intelligence report to suspect the conduct of the individual.”

Source: Punch Newspaper