The FCT High Court sitting in Jabi, an Abuja metropolis, on Thursday, May 25, 2017, countered the ruling of the Federal High Court in Lagos concerning the CEO/MD of Capital Oil and Gas, Mr. Ifeanyi Ubah.
It had earlier been reported that Justice Mohammed Idris of the Federal High Court, Lagos, ordered the release of Ifeanyi Ubah, held by the Department of Security Services (DSS) for alleged “economic sabotage”.
The court directed the DSS and its Director General, Lawal Daura, to release Mr. Ubah from detention if no criminal action is instituted against him within 48 hours of his judgement.
However, in a counter move, the DSS has obtained another judgment from Justice Yusuf Halilu of FCT High court who authorized them to retain the embattled oil magnate in custody.
Ubah was arrested by the DSS on May 5, over alleged diversion of petrol kept in his tank farm in Lagos by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).
NNPC claimed that the petrol kept in Ubah’s farm was valued at N11 billion.
It also said it was an attempt by the defendant to cause scarcity of the product in the country.
Justice Halilu, at the resumed hearing on the matter, granted the order following an ex-parte application brought before him by the Counsel to DSS, Mr G. O. Agbadua.
The judge said that the court had no power to disallow the agency from doing its work.
“Nobody will stop the DSS from doing its work; the court has no power to grant such order by Ubah to release him conditionally or unconditionally,” he determined.
“The DSS must always know that the rule of law thrive in this country, Ubah’s order was obtained lawfully but is hereby dismissed,” he noted.
He also stressed that the rule of law must prevail in the interest of justice and granted the DSS application for another more 14 days to allow it carryout more investigations about the matter.
Recall that Halilu had earlier dismissed an application by Ubah praying the court to set aside its earlier order which granted the DSS leave to detain him in the agency custody.
