The Federal Government on Thursday explained why a former National Security Adviser, Sambo Dasuki, was still being held by the Department of State Services (DSS).
It said Dasuki was being held on the ground of national security, his involvement in the over $2billion arms procurement scam and for his safety.
The government said with the quantum of arms and ammunition recovered from Dasuki’s Abuja home, which he allegedly kept illegally, there was general apprehension that he possesses more, which the state was yet to discover.
The government argued that the ex-NSA’s detention was justified based on the intelligence and security report at the disposal of the nation’s security agencies, saying national security supersedes individual’s security.
These formed the submission of the lawyer to the government, T. D. Kabiru, while arguing the defendant’s case in the suit filed by Dasuki, before the Community Court of Justice of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), Abuja, challenging his continued detention.
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 is 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 on-going 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. The applicant did not deny that these guns were recovered from his house.
“By Section 3 of the Firearms Act, CAP F28 LFN 2004, Part One of the Schedule thereof prescribes the arms that cannot be licensed for individual’s possession. The arms found in his house fall into this category of prohibited arms.
“Since they were illegally kept by the applicant, the deduction is that they were kept for illegal purposes. The Federal Republic of Nigeria has justified, with the evidence it has placed before the court, the detention of the applicant on ground of his own safety, and for the safety of other Nigerians by virtue of the security report received by the DSS.” Click to signup for FREE news updates, latest information and hottest gists everyday
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