Baba Suwe to slam N1bn suit on NDLEA, as continued detention raises concern

YORUBA movie actor, Babatunde
Omidina, also known as Baba Suwe,
is planning to file a N1 billion suit
against the National Drug Law
Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) over
his arrest and detention.
Baba Suwe was arrested by the
NDLEA on October 12 at the Murtala
Muhammed International Airport,
Ikeja, Lagos and is still being
detained.
The NDLEA had alleged that the 53-
year-old actor had ingested
substances suspected to be hard
drugs, but there has been no
evidence to substantiate the claim,
even after the suspect has
defecated thrice under close
observation.
His lawyer, Mohammed Bashir, told
the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in
a telephone interview, on
Wednesday, that a fundamental
rights enforcement suit would be
filed on his behalf within the next
five days.
Bashir said: “We will be filing the
suit before a Federal High Court in
Lagos between now and Monday.
“We will be asking for N1 billion as
compensation for damages suffered
by him due to his illegal arrest and
detention, as well as the
embarrassment and defamation
done to his reputation as a result of
the incident.”
The lawyer further told NAN that
NDLEA officials had prevented him
from meeting physically with Baba
Suwe since his arrest a week ago.
“I have visited the place twice since
he was detained but was turned
back and prevented from seeing my
client. This denial of access to my
client is another violation of his
fundamental human rights,” Bashir
said.
While most workers from the various
aviation agencies, who spoke on
condition of anonymity, are
blaming the NDLEA for refusing to
release Baba Suwe after nothing
was found in his excreta, they are
of the opinion that he should
institute a legal action against the
NDLEA while others said the agency
should be allowed to follow due
process without any sentiment.
Those who have sympathy for the
actor based their argument on the
reasoning that if Baba Suwe
actually ingested drug, he should
have excreted same and that it
would have affected his health by
now.
Baba Suwe was nabbed at the Lagos
airport after the Soter RS scanning
machine donated to the NDLEA by
the United States three years ago
during the screening of outbound
passengers marked him for
ingesting drugs.
While the controversy rages, the
NDLEA officials seem to be
overwhelmed as to the next line of
action to take if the comedian does
not excrete drug the fourth time.

Despite the drama, the NDLEA,
through its spokesperson, Mitchel
Ofoyeju, insisted that Baba Suwe
would remain in its custody until
every step was taken.
Ofoyeju had said: “I can confirm
that Baba Suwe is still under
observation. He excreted for the
third time last night and no drug
was found. But he remains under
observation.
“It will not end at the third
excretion, because it depends on
body composition. For some people,
it takes more time, more excretions.
It really depends on the body of
each individual.”
The Director-General of NDLEA, Mr
Femi Ajayi, had also in a television
interview said that according to
standard practice, a drug suspect
must test negative at least three
times to convince anti-narcotics
agents that he is innocent.