SAN FRANCISCO, May 25, (THEWILL) – Two federal high courts on Thursday issued contradictory rulings on the detention of Ifeanyi Ubah, managing director of Capital Oil and Gas Limited.
Justice Mohammed Idris of a Federal High Court in Lagos ordered the Department of State Services (DSS) to release Ubah “unconditionally within 48 hours”.
In a 100 page judgment, the judge also berated the DSS for “lying” to the court that Ubah was arrested in Abuja, “while from every available evidence, he was arrested in Lagos and flown to Abuja.”
Shortly after, Justice Yusuf Halilu of a Federal High Court in Abuja, in another ruling, gave the agency a go-ahead to detain Ubah for another 14 days following an ex-parte application filed by the DSS.
The agency said the application, filed through its lawyer, G.O.A. Agbadua, was due to the expiration of an earlier order granted by the Court on May 10 which elapsed on Wednesday.
The judge also dismissed a motion on notice brought by Ubah asking the court to vacate the earlier ex-parte it granted on May 10 which allowed the DSS to detain him for 14 days.
