The Rivers State High Court sitting in Port Harcourt yesterday ordered the officer-in-charge of Legal Prosecution Unit of the state police command to appear before it on February 13 to explain why the police refused to release the passport of the embattled leader of the state House of Assembly, Hon. Chidi Lloyd. Lloyd, who represents Emohua Constituency in the assembly, is standing trial before the court for the attempted murder of another member, Hon. Michael Chinda, during the fracas that rocked the assembly on July 9, 2013. The presiding judge, Justice Letam Nyordee, gave the order after the counsel to the accused, led by Mr. Beluolisa Nwofor (SAN), brought an application on notice supported by an affidavit, seeking the order of the court to compel the Commissioner of Police, Mr. Joseph Mbu, to release Lloyd’s international passport seized by the police after he was granted administrative bail following an accident which involved his driver on December 30, 2013. Ruling on the application, Nyordee frowned on the refusal of the police to release the international passport despite having knowledge that it was part of the bail condition of Lloyd in the matter for which he is currently standing trial. Nyordee said: “The commissioner of police, who is the complainant in this matter, is aware that the passport is part of the bail condition. The passport was released to the accused on December 13, 2013 for which he was supposed to return on the January 23 on the order of this court.” He said the action of the police amounted to contempt of court and therefore ordered that Mbu and the Attorney-General of the state, Mr. Worgu Boms, return the international passport. He also ordered that the officer in charge of legal prosecution appear before it on the next adjourned date to explain why the police refused to release the international passport after granting the accused administrative bail. He later adjourned the matter to February 13 for hearing. Reacting to the ruling, Boms, who is the state prosecution counsel, said he did not oppose to the application because as soon as a matter was charged to court no party should be seen as a clog in the wheel of justice. He said: “I did not oppose to the application because as soon as a matter has been charged to court, no feature of that matter, no trapping of that matter, no appendage of that matter should be taken away from the court as to foist on the court a situation where it is no longer in charge of proceedings. Also, I represent the police and the prosecution so I don’t want to be seen as obstructing the course of justice. “Since August last year when I took over prosecution of the matter, I have written several letters to the state police command in my capacity as the attorney-general of the state but they have refused to give us the case file. I also wrote to the inspector-general, they did not give us. As I speak with you today, we don’t have case file. “I don’t want to speculate. If I go beyond here and it appears the police authorities, including the Police Service Commission, which I know are like the employers of the police, I am sure I will get the case file. If they don’t, then I will know the next line of action to take, but let us not speculate that we will not get the case file.” Also reacting, Nwofor, who stated that the essence of the application was to get the police return the international passport of his client and not for punitive purposes, noted that Lloyd had earlier returned the international passport after the order to release his passport that was given by the vacation court presided by Justice Sobere Biambo last August. He maintained that no one has the authority to seize the passport of his client when it is part of his bail condition, adding that the Lloyd did not embark on the travel for which they got the order on December 13, 2013 due to the accident. This why any form of impunity must be resisted. Yesterday it was to the institution of the governor of Rivers State now it is to the courts!!!! Impunity anywhere is a treat to orderliness and rule of law everywhere!!!!! #standupagainstimpunitytoday#
Posted on: Fri, 31 Jan 2014 10:27:21 +0000
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