Wale Igbintade
A Federal High Court in Lagos yesterday ordered the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) to release a Colombian, Alexander Bedoye, from its custody.
Justice Lewis Alagoa gave the order following a fundamental rights enforcement application filed by his lawyer, Chief Benson Ndakara.
Moving the application yesterday, Ndakara said his client, Bedoye, a Colombian national, was arrested on his arrival in the country on October 22, 2021, and has since been detained in the custody of the NDLEA without trial.
Ndakara said the anti-narcotic agency has continued to violate the fundamental rights of the suspect, and urged the court to order the release of the defendant with immediate effect.
However, counsel to the NDLEA, Mr. B.S Abdulahi, in his submission, opposed the application.
Abdulahi told the court that sometimes in October this year, two ships were arrested at that Apapa Port on arrival in the country and that the two ships were discovered to be carrying hard drugs.
He told the court that ongoing investigation linked the suspect to the illegal cargo, hence his arrest on arrival into the country.
Abdulahi refuted the allegation that NDLEA has being in breach of the suspect’s fundamental rights, stressing that immediately he was arrested, the agency came to court to obtained a valid remand order, and that when it was obvious that the agency would still need more time for investigation, it came back to court to renew the order for his remand.
Abdulahi then urged the court to dismiss the application.
Ruling on the application, Justice Alagoa granted bail to the suspect in the sum of N100 million with one surety in like sum.
The surety must own a landed property within the jurisdiction of the court while the bail conditions must be verified by the court registrar.The matter has been adjourned till February 1, 2022.
