Sen. Ifeanyi Uba, (YPP-Anambra South), on Thursday in Abuja, decried his denial of access to the Federal High Court to attend to his case.
The Department of State Services (DSS) blocked routes leading to the court on Thursday, preventing journalists, litigants and lawyers from having access, as the trial of leader of proscribed Independent People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnami Kanu, went underway.
Speaking to newsmen, Sen. Uba lamented that he had filed a motion and he was on his way to court to attend proceedings in his matter only to be denied access.
“As a serving senator of the federal republic, today, I have a case in court and I was to present myself in court regarding my motion.
“This morning, I approached the court site through different routes, but they were blocked.
“As a senator of the federal republic, I think I have the right to enter the court premise even if I have no business in the court.
“I want to plead with the authorities that this should not happen again. Everybody that is accused is presumed innocent until proven guilty,’’ Sen. Uba said.
The lawmaker appealed to security agents, particularly the (DSS) to evolve better ways to ensure the smooth trial of leader of the proscribed IPOB, Kanu.
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“I am pleading that there should be sanity in the way and manner we go about this case,’’ he added.
Uba had approached the court seeking an order to be allowed to visit Kanu in DSS custody.
The motion was brought pursuant to Section 36 (1) of the 1999 Constitution, as amended and under the inherent jurisdiction of the court as preserved in Section 6 (6b) of the Constitution.
In the motion on notice dated Oct. 15, marked FHC/ABJ/CR/383/2021, Sen. Uba prayed for an order of court granting him leave to visit Kanu in DSS custody, as part of his oversight legislative function.
In the affidavit personally deposed to by Sen. Uba, he stated that: “as a senator from the Southeast geopolitical zone of Nigeria, I took it upon myself in carrying out my oversight legislative functions to visit the defendant at the DSS detention facility.
“This is to ascertain from him if he is involved in any way in what is happening in the Southeast and to seek way of amicable settlement of the separatist agitation in the Southeast in the overall interest of Nigeria.
“That at the DSS detention facility, I was denied access to the defendant and directed to approach this court to obtain permission before I could be allowed access to the defendant.
“I state that my interest in seeking to see the defendant is in the interest of national peace and security.’’
