BY BARTHOLOMEW MADUKWE
LAGOS — The Court of Appeal sitting in Lagos, yesterday, reserved judgment over the appeal filed by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, challenging the judgment of Justice Yetunde Idowu of a Lagos High Court which ordered the agency to pay N25 million to a popular comedian, Babatunde Omidina aka Baba Suwe over alleged drug trafficking as compensation for detaining him for days.

The court presided over by Justice C. C. Nweze reserved judgment after counsel to the appellant (NDLEA), through its Director of Prosecution and Legal Services, Mr Femi Oloruntoba, and the respondent (Baba Suwe) adopted their briefs of argument.

Adopting NDLEA’s brief dated February 3, 2012, Oloruntoba submitted that the lower court judge erred in law as the judgment was not a product of evidence presented before the court.

He urged the court to allow the appeal and set aside the judgment of the lower court, adding that the award of N25 million as damages was outrageous and failed to follow laid down principles of law.

Oloruntoba argued that the lower court erred as the entire judgment was faulty and that the court lacked jurisdiction to entertain the fundamental human rights suit filed by the respondent.

While, Oloruntoba admitted that exhibits 1 and 2 (results of various scans conducted on Baba Suwe) were public documents, he contended that exhibit 3 (photograph of drug defecated by a drug trafficker) was not a public document hence need not to be certified.

However, Mr Bamidele Aturu, the respondent’s counsel, in his reply described the appeal as unmeritorious and urged the court to dismiss it and affirm the judgement of the lower court.

Aturu also described all the exhibits presented by NDLEA as worthless, noting that up till today (Thursday) NDLEA has not filed any charge against Baba Suwe. He argued that NDLEA being a public body and an agent of the Federal Government, hence all the exhibits tendered by it (NDLEA) before the lower court ought to have been certified True Copies.

NDLEA had in its 8-page Notice of Appeal, stated that the trial judge erred in law when she held that NDLEA was not justified in the detain of Baba Suwe from the day of his arrest (October 12, 2011) till October 21, 2011 when the Federal High Court order to detain him was obtained.

According to the appellant, the trial judge (Justice Idowu) erred in law and misdirected herself on facts when she held that the act of the NDLEA in detaining Baba Suwe for 9 days are a flagrant abuse and infringement of his fundamental human rights.

It will be recalled that in its judgment, the lower court ordered NDLEA to pay Baba Suwe N25 million as compensation and that the agency should publish a public apology in two widely read national newspapers.