Gov Fubara’s Chief of Staff, Ehie to know fate on warrant of arrest April 25

An application by Rivers State Governor Edison Ehie’s Chief of Staff to revoke an arrest warrant issued against him and five other people has been slated for a ruling by a Federal High Court in Abuja on April 25.

Justice Emeka Nwite set Monday’s date following the parties’ argument.

The prosecution asked the court to dismiss the application, while the defence counsel asked for an order barring the plaintiff from carrying out the arrest order.

For their alleged involvement in the burning of the Rivers State House of Assembly and attempted murder, the defendants are being tried by the police.

They were also charged with seven counts in a different lawsuit with the filing date of FHC/ABJ/CR/25/2024, appearing before Justice Bolaji Olajuwon of the Federal High Court in Abuja.

On January 31, the court approved the police’s request for an arrest warrant after receiving an application from the Inspector General of Police.

After receiving an ex-parte filing from the Inspector-General of Police via his counsel, Senior Advocate of Nigeria SAN Simon Lough, Justice Nwite issued the order.

Lough told the court that the six defendants were fugitives and would require an arrest in order to contest the allegations against them.

The accused allegedly included five police informants, Superintendent of Police SP Bako Agbashim, and attempted murder, among other acts of terrorism, he claimed.

Attorneys for the defendants, Femi Falana, SAN, and Mr Oluwole Aladedoye, SAN, presented separate motions to the court during today’s proceedings, requesting that the arrest warrant be revoked and that the police be prevented from enforcing the order until the matter is resolved.

Oluwole Aladedoye, SAN, the Chief of Staff’s attorney, testified in court that Ehie was never asked to be questioned by the police.

He said, “They got an order to arrest someone they never invited and to declare someone who was never invited, wanted.”

In addition, he brought up the question of jurisdiction, arguing that since the incident had taken place in Rivers, the court lacked the authority to consider it.

The judicial division where the alleged crime was committed is where the police are expected to file, he noted.

Falana, who represented the second through sixth defendants, likewise argued that the law requires that an offence be tried in the location where it was committed.

A warrant for arrest cannot be issued, he noted, without a valid and current charge. The ex-parte order on January 31 was urged to be overturned by him.

However, the defence counsel asked the court to reject the application for a stay of the January 31 order’s enforcement.

He argued that the court’s rules were not taken into account when making the application.

He argued that a federal high court located anywhere in Nigeria may issue a warrant for execution in any part of the country under section 47 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act of 2015.

An arrest warrant can be issued without a charge, he noted, according to the law.

Justice Emeka Nwite adjourned her decision on the motion for a stay of execution until April 25 after hearing arguments from the parties involved.

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