Justice Husseini Baba Ahmed of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Abuja High Court today compelled the Federal Government to produce the embattled former National Security Adviser (NSA), Colonel Sambo Dasuki (rtd.), in court to answer criminal charges brought against him.

The judge, who took a swipe at the Federal Government for failure to bring Dasuki to court, stood down the trial for two hours and insisted that the trial would not be conducted until Dasuki had been brought before him as required by law.

Security operatives, who had kept the defendant to an unknown location in the past six weeks, ran helter-skelter to fish him out when the reality downed on them that the judge woul not shift ground.

Dasuki was eventually brought to the court under a tight security around 11:00 a.m.

A Judge of the Federal High Court, Justice Adeniyi Ademola, had on Wednesday ordered the Federal Government to produce Dasuki before him on February 16 to answer another set of criminal charges.

Justice Ademola maintained that it was wrong for the government to have expected the court to conduct a criminal trial in the absence of the defendant and in violation of the law.

Three different courts where Dasuki was arraigned for criminal charges had granted him bail but the bail orders were not obeyed by government, which, instead, took the defendant to an unknown custody.

However, the trial of Dasuki in a case filed against him by the EFCC for alleged criminal diversion of over N19 billion has been stalled at the FCT High Court. The case was stalled following a letter from the counsel to Dasuki, Mr. Ahmed Raji, SAN, that he was handling an election tribunal matter in Kogi State. The court adjourned the case to January 22 to enable him defend his client.

While other parties in the suit conceded to the letter, counsel to EFCC, Mr. Rotimi Jacobs, SAN, expressed reservations on the grounds that the defence has a team of lawyers who could have managed the case.

•Photo shows Sambo Dasuki.

Update news