Mamman Keita in prison for over 10 years without trial

Unbelievable but true.

An Ikeja High court on Wednesday ruled that it was wrong for the Lagos state government to have detained a Nigerien, Mamman Keita in prison for over 10 years without trial and that the government must pay a compensation of N7 million to the detainee.

The presiding judge, of the case between the detainee and the state government, Justice Habeeb Abiru gave this ruling in response to an application the Lagos state Attorney General, Ade Ipaye had filed asking the court for a stay of execution its earlier judgement on the case.

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Justice Abiru had in an earlier judgment delivered on December 16, 2011, ordered the Lagos state Attorney General to pay the sum of N7 million to Mr Keita to compensate him for his continuous detention in prison for over 10 years without trial.
The court had held that Mr Keita’s detention without proper arraignment and trial in court was a violation of his fundamental human rights as guaranteed by the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. He had also ordered the Inspector General of Police, Mohammed Abubakar and Mr Ipaye to tender an apology to the 43-years old ram seller for detaining him unjustly for murder.
The judge while dismissing the application held that it lacked merit because Mr Keita was unjustly detained for over 10 years and deserved the compensation. The court also faulted Mr Ipaye’s claim that Mr Keita was remanded in prison by the Police without forwarding the case to the office of the Attorney General.
The judge added that both the Police and the Attorney General was responsible for ensuring that people were given justice, which was denied Keita in this case. “The criminal justice administration law was proposed by the ministry of justice and we have a duty to uphold its provisions”, Justice Abiru said. Mr Ipaye had filed an appeal at the Appeal Court, Lagos against the judgment and had asked the High Court to stay execution of its judgment pending the determination of the appeal.

In the application filed on his behalf by Olabisi Ogungbesan, Director, Lagos State Directorate of Public Prosecutions, the Lagos state Attorney General had faulted Justice Abiru’s judgment which necessitated the appeal. The Mr Ipaye had argued that the issues raised in the grounds of appeal are obscure and clearly touches on the powers of the Attorney General and the police under the relevant laws of the land.

He had claimed that the judgment debt, if granted would be paid from the taxes paid by Lagosians which would impose an increased burden on the state government. Mr Keita’s lawyer, Ahmed Adetola-Kazeem had urged the court to dismiss the application, arguing that it lacks merit and would deprive his client the fruits of litigation. The matter was adjourned to May 2 for hearing of the garnishee application filed by Mr Adetola-Kazeem.