A good way to start the year!
Yesterday, the 10th of January, 2024, the High Court of Lagos State held in our favour in a fundamental rights enforcement action filed on behalf of a client against the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.
Our client was arrested without a warrant by the officers of the EFCC on some speculative and trumped-up charges. His properties, including his passport, computers, vehicles, and phones, were seized without an order of court. He was also detained for about 11 days, beyond 48 hours, on the pretence that he did not meet the bail conditions.
At Law Centriole, we strongly believe in the rule of law, and we never hesitate to seek redress when the rights of our clients are infringed upon.
Consequently, when we were briefed about this issue, we immediately swung into action and filed a fundamental rights enforcement action against the EFCC.
Among other things, we asked the court whether the arrest without warrant of our client on some speculative charge was lawful.
We also asked the court if the confiscation of our properties, including his passport, did not amount to an infringement of our client’s rights to own property as protected by the Constitution.
We further asked if the confiscation of our client’s passport did not amount to an infringement of his freedom of movement, as there is no order of a competent court as to such.
His Lordship held, among other things, that the arrest was unlawful, his detention for more than 48 hours was an infringement on his fundamental rights, and the seizure of his properties without an order of court was not only wrong but unlawful.
The court was clear in discountenancing the argument of the EFCC that his detention for more than 48 hours was a result of his failure to meet their administrative bail conditions promptly.
The court held that the Administration of Criminal Justice Act did not contemplate administrative bail and that they ought to have taken him to court within the stipulated time or released him on bail.
The Court ordered the EFCC to immediately return the properties, desist from further arresting our client without an order from a competent court, and graciously awarded damages against the EFCC.