Almost Half A Decade In Pretrial Detention Warrant Officer, Tanko, Two Other Airforce Officers Court-Martialed Without Trial, Cry Out To FG, International Organisations

Yakubu Busari

At least no fewer than three   Nigerian Air Force officers have been in illegal detention since October 2021. They are warrant officer Chiroma Ayuba, Mwo James Tumb, and Warrant officer (Rev) Tanko Bulus Barnabas in detention since 13th October 2021, under the invitation of one Air CDR Samuel Chinda to report to the defense office on 5 count charges. (a) Count 1-3 disobedient to standing order. (b) Count 4 conspiracy. (c) Count 5 public disturbances.

Master warrant officer James Tumba. In detention since 13th October 2021 on a 5-count charge of (a)count 1-3 disobedient to standing order. (b) Count 4 conspiracy (c) count 5 public disturbance.

Warrant officer (Rev) Tanko Bulus Barnabas. In detention since 20 September 2021. On 7 count charges. (a) Count 1-4 disobedient to standing order. (b) Illegal possession of firearm. (c) Illegal possession of ammunition (d) conspiracy.

Nigeria routinely court-martial charges suspects with a serious offense to have them sentenced, but makes little or no effort to investigate or prosecute the case.

As of October 2021, 38,352 persons, or 71% of the prison population were sentenced for an uncertain court-martial trial in Jos. Regrettably, the percentage of pretrial sentences as a proportion of the prison population has been stable over the last two decades.

In 2021, Rev. Tanko was court-martialed and sentenced to 10 years in a correctional facility on 20th September 2021, this happened when he was still with the Air Force base Jos.

Mwo Chiroma Ayuba Kollo and Mwo James Tumba were sentenced to two years each, according to them, it happened when Air Cdr Samuel Chinda invited them via phone calls on 12 October 2021 to report to the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) Abuja on 13 October 2021.

He condemned the Nigerian Prisons Service’s report that the average period of court-martial sentence in Nigeria was nearly four years, with many held for longer. Warrant officer Tanko Bulus Barnabas has been held for more than four years in prison and he said he is going to appeal through a conventional court to quash his 10-year sentence.

However, the Community Court of Justice of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) found that this violated the prohibition of arbitrary detention or sentencing in the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights.

Narrating how it happened, they said; Chiroma Ayuba , Mwo James Tumb and  Warrant officer (Rev) Tanko Bulus Barnabas were all born in Nigeria, and were all serving under the Nigerian Airforce Plateau State Command. On or about October 13th, 2021, they were arrested by defense headquarters their identity gave no any reasons for their arrest.

The Defense headquarters then forcefully dragged the three Nigerian Airforce through court-martial to the Plateau State Correctional Center in Plateau State, where they were sentenced in   2021 unjustly.

On 13th , 2021  they were brought before a State High Court in Jos Division, Plateau State, on an allegation of a five-count charge ranging from illegal possession of fire to negligent of duty under the procedure known as the “holding charge,” a process by which a suspect is brought before a court-martial that lacks jurisdiction over the offense for which the suspect has been sentenced.

The court-martial therefore cannot order his release and has no option under the law but to remand him in a correctional facility based on a holding charge, without any determination whether there are sufficient grounds for sentencing.

Under the holding charge, on Nigerian Airforce court-martial warrant officer Tanko Bulus Barnabas is serving at correctional facility. He was then held at Jos Correctional Facility Security Prison in Jos, Plateau State, for more than four years without proper investigation before court-martial, or charged with a crime under any law before any court-martial of competent jurisdiction.

Our investigation revealed that On September 18, 2012, following the judgment of the ECOWAS Court, he was released following a review by the Chief Judge of Lagos.

Section 35 of Nigeria’s 1999 Constitution states that the Nigerian Army or Nigerian Airforce court-martial any officer for a crime he nor nothing about.

The initial sentence of Tanko Bulus Barnabas from October 9 until May 15, 2021, was not authorized by any court of law and was thus unlawful.

The holding charge compels the indefinite sentence of suspects without charge, sufficient evidence, or due process, but was upheld by the Supreme Court of Nigeria in March 2007.

Over 70 percent of Nigeria’s prison population consists of pretrial detainees, and nearly a quarter of them have been held for at least one year, reflecting both an overburdened justice system either in NAF /NA  and structural problems between Nigeria’s state and federal justice systems.

The problem is not restricted to Nigeria. In West Africa, five other countries shared the distinction of having more than half their prison population constituted by pretrial detainees and sentencing.

Remarkably, four of those countries—Benin, Liberia, Niger, and Nigeria—were among the top ten worldwide with the highest pretrial illegal sentenced, and detainee populations.

Open Society Justice Initiative Involvement

The Justice Initiative, together with co-counsel Mutiu Ganiyu, sought to review the use of the holding charge to justify indefinite pre-trial detention and sentenced through a legal challenge brought on behalf of Alade to the Community Court of Justice of ECOWAS.

Arguments

Arbitrary detention. The use of the holding charge to detain and sentence of  a suspect indefinitely violates Alade’s rights under the African Charter to liberty and freedom from arbitrary detention (Article 6), to have his cause heard within a reasonable time (Article 7), and to equality before the law (Article 3).

Power to release. International human rights law requires that a suspect is promptly brought before a judicial officer who has the power to order release.

Lack of fixed return date. Human rights law requires that any remand in custody is for the shortest possible time. When a magistrate remands a suspect in custody on the basis of a “holding charge” it is often done without a fixed return date for the next hearing, allowing the case to be forgotten.

Even where the magistrate does order a return date, the police often fail to produce the detained person on that date.

Lack of reasons. A judge must give reasons when remanding an individual in custody, identifying the grounds upon which custody is ordered, such as fear of flight, interference with witnesses or evidence, prevention of further offenses, or the protection of public order.

Release. The court found that as the plaintiff “was entitled to the relief sought including that of his discharge/release from Kirikiri Maximum Security Prison forthwith, and this court so orders. The applicant is hereby discharged from detention accordingly.”