Lagos-based lawyer, Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa,\u00a0 has withdrawn\u00a0 the suit he filed on Monday to challenge the continued detention of\u00a0 Olisa Metuh, by the EFCC<\/p>\n
Metuh has been in the EFCC custody since January 5, 2016, where he is being questioned over his alleged involvement in the diversion and sharing of the $2.1bn arms funds by a former National Security Adviser, Sambo Dasuki.<\/p>\n
In a statement on\u00a0 Monday, Adegboruwa, who claimed that Metuh\u2019s arrest and detention was part of President Muhammadu Buhari\u2019s grand plan to silence the opposition, approached the Federal High Court in Lagos and asked that Metuh be immediately released from custody.<\/p>\n
The\u00a0 lawyer had argued that Metuh\u2019s fundamental rights enshrined in sections 33, 34, 35, 38, 40, 41, 42, 43 and 44 of the Constitution were being violated.<\/p>\n
The statement read in part, \u201cSince filing this suit, I have received several telephone calls from colleagues, friends and well wishers, some congratulating me for the \u2018fat\u2019 brief, some criticising me, some seeking explanations and some others commending and encouraging me.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe truth is that I have never met Chief Metuh before and I did not receive a dime from him, or from anyone else, to file the suit. I did so based upon my conviction, that it was wrong to arrest a citizen of Nigeria, lock him up in custody and be boasting that he will not be released or charged to court.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy intervention on behalf of Chief Metuh, is not to shield him from his trial, if found wanting, but rather that as the voice of the opposition in Nigeria, he should not be cowed or silenced, without following due process.<\/p>\n
\u201cThrough Chief Metuh, Nigerians have had the benefit of hearing the other side of the sweet stories of change, that the Buhari regime has been feeding us with.\u201d<\/p>\n
Adegboruwa added that he later discovered that Metuh himself had earlier filed a similar suit in Abuja.<\/p>\n
He said he was not a Metuh\u2019s crony, adding that if Buhari himself left office and is being unfairly treated he would equally defend him.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt would seem now that Chief Metuh is finding a common ground with the EFCC, in the light of the revelations coming forth, in relation to his case and the promise to arraign him in court.<\/p>\n
\u201cI support the anti-corruption war of this administration, when it is done in accordance with the rule of law.<\/p>\n
My intervention in securing reprieve for victims of human rights abuses, is not novel to Chief Metuh\u2019s case,\u201d Adegboruwa said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Lagos-based lawyer, Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa,\u00a0 has withdrawn\u00a0 the suit he filed on Monday to challenge the continued detention of\u00a0 Olisa Metuh, by the EFCC Metuh has been in the EFCC custody…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":45406,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-45572","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-exclusive"],"yoast_head":"\n