Ogwuche As Opportunity JUSTICE Ademola Johnson’s ruling that struck out the charges against bomb blast suspect Aminu Ogwuche, “for want of diligent prosecution”, opens an opportunity for the judiciary to examine many cases before courts, where prosecution has not been diligent, resulting in suspects awaiting trial for years. Ogwuche was charged at the Federal High Court, Abuja, for terrorism. He is the alleged mastermind of the 14 April bomb blast which killed 75 people and injured 120 others at the Nyanya motor park in Abuja. The Department of State Services, DSS, has the court’s approval to keep Ogwuche until December 5 when his bail application would be heard. The opportunity in the judge’s ruling is that suspects could use the generous provisions of the Constitution, especially Section 35, the rights of the individual to speedy trial, to free the thousands of ordinary Nigerians awaiting trial. Many of them have spent years in detention, during which they have made few appearances in court. Are they excluded from “diligent prosecution”? Ogwuche is being charged for terrorism. He boasted about his role in the Nyanya incident. “If I am left alone, I will still kill those infidels who have refused to repent of their sins against Allah. My mission is to wipe out infidels from the face of the earth. You call me bomb detonator, and I love that. I am ready to kill again. In fact, I enjoy killing people who are unbelievers; those deceived by western education and disobedient to Allah and His Holy Koran. I don’t care what will happen to me now because if I die, I shall go to heaven for doing God’s work. I won’t beg anybody for forgiveness but I can assure you that my so-called trial will not be an easy exercise. If I like, I plead not guilty in court to make things difficult for the Federal Government but inside my mind, I know I did the damn thing. It is my word against Federal Govern-ment evidence,” he said on arrival at the Nnamdi Azikiwe Airport, Abuja last July 15. For a case that commenced last July when Ogwuche was repatriated from Sudan to be devoid of diligent prosecu-tion after only five months means that our growing army of “human rights” lawyers and numerous non-governmen-tal organisations, could use the same provisions to press the cases of thou-sands languishing in jail, without trial. They are poor, voiceless, without the connections to get their matters heard speedily. As we strive for improvements in the condition of our people, as we target equality before the law, we must explore opportunities that lead us to the robust protections of the law, particularly for the weak.
Posted on: Sat, 29 Nov 2014 03:23:42 +0000
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