Adeleke: Police prosecutor escapes jail by whiskers

By Andrew Orolua, Abuja

A police lawyer, Simon Lough on Friday escaped jail by the whiskers after a judge of the Federal High Court in Abuja threatened to convict him for contempt.

Meanwhile, the court has dismissed an application filed by the police seeking a stay of execution of an order, allowing Senator Ademola Adeleke to travel to the United States for medical check-up.

The trial judge, Justice Inyang Ekwo dismissed the application brought by the police for lacking in merit.

Justice Ekwo had on May 6 granted leave to Sen. Adeleke to travel to the USA on May 7 and to return on June 9 to enable him undergo an urgent medical check-up.

He equally ordered the senator to honour an invitation by the police on May 6 before he leaves for the United States, having restrained the police from arresting him.

Sen. Adeleke was however, arrested on the day he went to honour the police invitation and was consequently, arraigned the next day before a magistrate court in Mpape area of Abuja on a five- count charge bordering on alleged false statement and forgery.

Adeleke, who is the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2018 governorship election in Osun state was however, granted bail and has since travelled abroad for the medical check up.

To prevent the senator from embarking on the medical trip, the police approached the court with an application for stay of execution of the ruling, pending the hearing and determination of the appeal at the Court of Appeal.

Also, the police wanted the court to restrain Adeleke from acting upon or enforcing the ruling until the appeal is determined.

In his ruling, Justice Ekwo said from the submissions of the police counsel, Adeleke has travelled and under-going medical check- up inAmerica, “which means that the application is spent.”

By this development, he said there is nothing the court can do to stay the action as an injunction is not normally granted over a completed act.

“The issue here is not merely that of granting an injunction over a completed act, but whether a party can disobey an order of court and come before the same court seeking for its discretionary power, expressing displeasure at the police for refusing to comply with the court order of May 3.

“The police resorted to self help by arraigning Adeleke before the magistrate court on May 7, just to stop him from travelling. It is obligatory on every person to obey the order of court. This court stands to commit Mr. Lough to prison custody for this blatant act of impunity and contemptuous disobedience.

“The exercise of restraint by this court in noted dealing with the learned counsel for the complainant/applicant (Lough) forthrightly is to demonstrate to the learned gentleman that the best use of power is to restrain,” Ekwo held.

He said by arraigning Adeleke on the day he was granted leave to travel for his medical check up in an inferior court, the police has acted disdainfully and thereby, derided the authority of the court, which he said is a condemnable act.

“It must be noted therefore, that when positive order of the court is flouted, it is the court that is unduly taunted,” the judge stated, describing Adeleke’s arrest by the police and his arraignment as a very dubious manoeuvre of judicial system in order to avoid compliance with the order of the court.

He said he took the police application to avoid denying them the right to fair hearing, adding that the police is not entitled to the exercise of the discretion while in disobedience of the order of the court.

The court consequently found the application lacking in merit and dismissed it.