Tuesday, April 23, 2019

Did Osinbajo, Dambazau....snub bereaved journalist petition?

Written byBlessed Mudiaga Adjekpagbon and Onabamiji Adediwura


A bereaved journalist has been wondering why the Vice President of Nigeria, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo; Ibrahim Dambazau – Minister of Interior; and the Deputy Controller of Medium Security Prison, Apapa, Lagos State are yet to respond to a petition he wrote them about the illegal release of a “man slaughter” culprit from prison.
During an interaction with Bulkybon Periscopes, the journalist, Onabamiji Adediwura presented a photocopy of a petition he wrote to Osinbajo, Dambazau, Justice Oke – the Chief Judge of Lagos State and co, concerning the injustice meted on him and his family by the Nigerian Medium Security Prison, Apapa, Lagos and the Police.
The petition dated January 21, 2019 starts with a heading thus: “Re-Sudden disappearance of defendant (Ayuba Musa) from prison custody and blatant refusal of the prison authority to arrest and produce the defendant in Charge No: B/26/2010, before his honour: A. Ipaye Nwachukwu.” The journalist/petitioner who is incidentally the complainant in the case, clearly states his reason for writing the petition. He posits that: “I am a journalist, complainant and one of the administrators of the Estate of Enock O. Onabamiji (a senior PHCN official), who was killed on the 30th of March 2010 in a motor accident that involved a trailer-tanker with registration number XZ 155 KJA driven dangerously by one Ayuba Musa.
“The said Ayuba Musa was charged to court at Sabo by the Police, based on the DPP’s advice on the 19th of June, 2010. A copy of the charge sheet is hereby attached.”
The complainant who has been solely responsible for the upkeep of the family of the deceased further avers that: “Curiously, the said Ayuba Musa who has been facing trial in the above case could not be produced in court which prompted the presiding Magistrate to issue a reproduction warrant, only for the prison authority to inform the court on the 17th of December, 2016 that Ayuba Musa has been mistakenly released. They pleaded with the court for a short time to re-arrest the defendant, which till date have not taken effect.”
According to the journalist, a copy of the court order for the re-arrest of the defendant and an order by the trial court for the arrest of the defendant’s employer for refusing to produce the defendant were also attached to the petition he wrote to Osinbajo,
As at the time of publishing this report, the Vice President and some other aforementioned personalities who were served the petition over three months ago have not responded. Only Justice Opeyemi Oke, Chief Judge of Lagos responded by ordering the Police and the Prison authority to re-arrest the defendant. But the Police is still dragging feet to re-arrest Musa, suspected to have bribed both the Prison authority and the Police based on the Nigerian factor of corruption.
The questions now being asked by some reasonable folks concerned about the case include: “Why is the Vice President silent over Adediwura’s petition? Who is to be held for the irreparable damage, and made to pay compensation to the family of the bereaved if the defendant can no longer be re-arrested? The world is waiting for Osinbajo and co to respond. The Interior Minister, Deputy Controller of Medium Security Prison, Apapa, Lagos and the Police are expected to act now if they want the general public to continue to regard them as responsible beings.

END

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