widely held belief that suspected terrorist, Aminu Sadiq Ogwuche was
set free by the federal high court, Abuja because the case against him
was bungled, it never arraigned the suspect on terrorism charges.
The Police noted that it only assisted the Department of State
Services, DSS, who was prosecuting the suspect, to carry out the
extradition of Ogwuche to Nigeria from Sudan where he ran to.
(Photo: Nyanya bomb blast suspect Aminu Sadiq Ogwuche sits in the
courtroom in Abuja on November 24, 2014. A Nigerian court on November
24 struck out terrorism related charges against Ogwuche, the alleged
mastermind of an April 14, 2014 bus station bomb blast in Nyanya, an
outskirt of the capital city of Abuja, which was claimed by Boko Haram
islamists, that killed 71 people and wounded 124. AFP PHOTO
A statement signed by the Force Public Relations Officer, CP Emmanuel
Ojukwu read: "The attention of the Nigeria Police High Command has
been drawn to a most misleading media report that charges filed by the
Nigeria Police at the Federal High Court Abuja, were struck out for
lack of diligent prosecution in respect of the suspected terrorist
Aminu Sadiq Ogwuche.
"It would be recalled that the Department of State Services (DSS),
that had intelligence on the Nyanya Bombing and was investigating it,
made a formal request to the Nigeria Police to assist in extraditing
one Aminu Sadiq Ogwuche to Nigeria from Sudan, through the Interpol
channel of which the Nigeria Police is well versed.
"It was at this stage and for this reason that the Nigeria Police
Force filed charges against the suspected fugitive Aminu Sadiq
Ogwuche, based on information that he fled to Sudan.
"The filing of charges against the suspect is a legal procedure to
enable the Nigeria Police formally request Sudanese authorities to
grant Nigeria's extradition request in respect of the suspected
fugitive.
"For the records, copy of filed charge(s) against a fugitive must be
appended to documents in support of extradition request made to the
host country, which in this case, is Sudan.
"These facts were made known to the court when it insisted on the
production of the accused even before his extradition to Nigeria.
"Following Ogwuche's extradition which the Nigeria Police accomplished
successfully, the DSS, obtained a court order to remand the suspect
for an initial period of three months in line with the Prevention of
Terrorism Act and also liaised with the Office of the Attorney-General
of the Federation to undertake his prosecution.
"For the record, at no time did the Nigeria Police arraign the suspect
in court for terrorism related offences. Moreover, the purported
prosecution/arraignment by the Police could not have happened as the
Police could not prosecute a suspect it never arrested, never
investigated nor had in its custody.
"It is therefore grossly erroneous, mischievous and malicious to
impute lack of diligent prosecution to the Police. The Nigeria Police
Force is manifestly and positively committed to the will of Nigerians
to rid the nation of violent crimes like terrorism. Many of our
officers have paid the supreme sacrifice on account of this.
"The Police while respecting the rights of the media to publish,
however appeals that due diligence be observed to ensure that
misleading information is not disseminated to the reading public."
--PUNCH
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