The office of the AG of Lagos lost an application to stay payment of N7m to man who spent 10 years in prison without trial
A Lagos High Court sitting in Ikeja, on Wednesday, dismissed the application for stay of execution of judgment filed by the Attorney-General of the state, Ade Ipaye, to stop the payment of N7million judgement sum awarded to Mamman Keita, a Nigerien.
The presiding judge, Justice Habeeb Abiru, had, in a judgement delivered on December 16, 2011, ordered the AG to pay the sum to Keita as compensation for his detention in prison for over 10 years without trial.
The judge held that Keita’s detention, without proper arraignment and trial in court, violated his fundamental human rights as guaranteed by the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
He also ordered the Inspector General of Police and the AG to tender an apology to the 43-year-old ram seller for detaining him unjustly for murder.
Abiru, while dismissing the application on Wednesday, held that it lacked merit because Keita was unjustly detained for over 10 years and deserved the compensation. He also faulted Ipaye’s claim that Keita was remanded in prison by the Police without forwarding the case to the office of the Attorney-General.
The judge insisted that the police and the AG were both responsible for ensuring that people were given justice, which was denied Keita in the case.
“The Criminal Justice Administration law was proposed by the Ministry of Justice and we have a duty to uphold its provisions,’’ Abiru said.
Ipaye had filed an appeal against the judgement at the Court of Appeal but asked Abiru to stay execution of his judgement pending the determination of the appeal.
In the application filed on the AG’s behalf by Olabisi Ogungbesan, the Director of the Lagos State Directorate of Public Prosecutions, Ipaye faulted Abiru’s judgement, arguing that the judgment debt, if granted, would be paid from the taxes of Lagosians, which would impose an increased burden on the State Government.
However, Keita’s lawyer, Ahmed Adetola-Kazeem, urged the court to dismiss the application, arguing that it lacked merit and would deprive his client the fruits of litigation.
The matter has been adjourned till May 2 for hearing on the garnishee application filed by Adetola-Kazeem.
