A Federal High Court in Abuja on Monday ruled that Ogwuche be freed because the police had not been diligent in prosecuting the suspect.
The court dismissed the two-count terrorism charge against Ogwuche for lack of diligent prosecution, few months after the suspected Boko Haram kingpin was repatriated from Sudan to face prosecution.
Reacting to the development, a security analyst, Ben Okezie, said the case might have been handled by a quack lawyer, instead of a professional counsel.
Okezie said, “The government must have given the case to a quack lawyer; in other climes, such an important case would have been handled by a renown lawyer and that is why government agencies like the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission have been messing up anti-corruption cases in court. It is a shame and it’s most unfortunate.”
A retired Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Abubakar Tsav, also lampooned the government for messing up the case, noting that the Department of State Services probably did not get its facts right.
He said, “The government should make up its mind and take the prosecution of terrorism cases seriously. They should have evidences before taking suspects to court. They should not arraign a person because he is a Muslim or because he came from a Muslim-dominated area.
“In this case, they have no evidence; they just gave the dog a bad name to hang it.”
A former Commissioner of Police in the Federal Capital Territory, Lawrence Alobi, noted that the prosecutor had the right to appeal the court ruling, adding that the Ministry of Justice would likely review the court order and take the appropriate decision.
“I think the dismissal of the case may have to do with the way the case was presented and the police have the right to appeal it,” he stated.
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