How Baba Suwe’s visits to the toilet captivated a nation

The agency said a body scan of showed that the actor had ingested some significant quantity of hard drugs and placed him under observation until he excretes the substance. The much awaited excreta that would implicate the actor never came. The NDLEA which has been suffering from some credibility crisis didn’t want this big statement […]

The agency said a body scan of showed that the actor had ingested some significant quantity of hard drugs and placed him under observation until he excretes the substance. The much awaited excreta that would implicate the actor never came.

The NDLEA which has been suffering from some credibility crisis didn’t want this big statement to slip by. In fact, the gusto with which it had announced Baba Suwe’s arrest on October 12, 2011 at the Murtala Muhammed Airport , Lagos suggested they needed this high profile arrest to make a statement of competence.

The NDLEA had said some substances suspected to be hard drugs were found in his stomach when screened by the agency’s x-ray machine otherwise known as the Computerised Tomography Scan (CT scan).

The actor denied the allegations and has maintained his innocence all through.

According to the agency he was on his way to Paris to compeer the naming ceremony of an Air France staff scheduled for that weekend.

He was placed under observation and made to go on an excretion expedition. But after numerous visits to thetoilet, there was still no trace of the drugs.

Harping on the efficacy of the 3D full body scanner, which was used to screen Baba Suwe, Mr. Mitchell Ofoyeju, NDLEA Spokesman said the scanner had given the agency 93 suspects since January this year.

He added, “Anybody can be checked. There is no issue of favouritism in such things. If Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, who tried to blast a Northwest Airlines plane on December 25, 2009, was tested and caught, Nigeria would have been saved from the embarrassment.”

Warning against the malaise of drug abuse, Ofoyeju said the law was no respecter of persons or positions.

“It is because he is a celebrity that his investigation process went to the public domain. Other people go through such processes from time to time and nobody gets to hear about it until they are found in possession of hard drugs.”

Refuting claims that the agency was out to sensationalise the story, the spokesman said they did not even issue a press release as at the time of his arrest.

He noted that they later did so when the press got the story and so they had to issue one to guide whatever was being published.

After several days of detaining Baba Suwe without being charged to court, most, observers described the detention as illegal.

The NDLEA thus on October, 21 approached the Ikeja High Court to seek leave to detain Baba Suwe for at least 15 days, which was granted.

Justice Okechukwu Okeke in granting the NDLEA leave to continue to detain the actor had listened to arguments on an application by NDLEA’s counsel, Ms. Theresa Asuquo.

In a 29-paragraph affidavit deposed by the NDLEA which it also supported with a certified CT scan report performed by a Consultant Radiologist (CR) attached to the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH), Dr Subhash Vijayvargiya, the agency maintained that Baba Suwe ingested a sizeable amount of drugs.

The NDLEA in its affidavit deposed to by one of its agents, Mr. Osifuye Femi Johnson, said Baba Suwe’s refusal to eat at least twice daily has made it impossible for him to excrete the suspected hard drugs in his body, saying that the actor has eaten just twice since his detention and supervised observation.

Osifuye had said that after the actor relieved himself twice and did not eject the suspected substances, the agency took him to the Consultant Radiologist for an independent assessment at LASUTH, which corroborated the agency’s earlier findings that the actor had indeed ingested hard drugs.

The NDLEA said based on the consultant’s confirmation of the drugs in Baba Suwe’s body, it needed more time to detain the actor as he would over time ease the drugs out of his body voluntarily. It maintained that the actor’s case was not an isolated one.

Baba Suwe had approached a Federal High Court in Lagos to vacate the order it gave the NDLEA to detain him for an additional 15days. Thus, the court had ordered he be brought to court for trial.

Justice Yetunde Idowu, who directed the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) to produce Baba Suwe before her “physically” on November 1 said her order is sequel to a Motion on Notice dated October 24, by Omidina’s counsel, Mr Bamidele Aturu.

He had sought an order directing the NDLEA to release the applicant from detention forthwith, pending the hearing and determination of the substantive suit.

The Nigerian Theatre Arts Practitioners, NANTAP, in a press briefing called on the NDLEA to release Baba Suwe or risk a mass protest.

Its former President Prince Jide Kosoko, while addressing journalist in Lagos had said that “it is surprising and quite unbelievable” that the actor could be detained for so long without the needed evidence, adding that the whole fiasco has compromised the reputation of actors in the country and subjected members of Baba Suwe’s family and his fans to untold humiliation.

Threats of mass protest did not deter the agency as sources told our correspondent that the NDLEA is afraid of litigation and is therefore bent on nailing Baba Suwe.

Also, the lawyer to Baba Suwe, Bamidele Aturu, had written to the Director General of the NDLEA over the continued detention of Baba Suwe and described it as unlawful. He is also demanding for N1 billion as compensation to his client.

‘His contribution to the war against drugs’

The Managing Director of the NDLEA, Mr. Femi Ajayi in a TV interview had said Baba Suwe may be released after the fourth excretion.

He had said if he is found not guilty, the agency will apologize to him and plead with him to take the embarrassment as his contribution to the war against drugs.

If not for anything, observers say, Baba Suwe would collect damages for the missed occasion as well as money he lost while in NDLEA detention.

He would also be demanding a public apology from the agency and compensation on aggravated damages.

On Tuesday Baba Suwe was given conditional bail by the courts. An Ikeja High court Tuesday ordered his release by Friday, November 4, if he fails to excrete any substance that is in compliance in nature with narcotics as alleged by the National Drug Law Enforcement agency (NDLEA)

Justice Yetunde Idowu granted him a conditional bail of N500, 000, one surety in like sum with an order that the surety’s status and address must be verified by the Chief registrar of the court.

She also directed that Baba Suwe’s international passport, currently with the NDLEA, must be deposited with the Chief Registrar’s office pending the determination of the substantive suit

However, while reading her ruling, Justice Idowu reiterated the fact that the liberty of the applicant has been grossly violated. “He is due for immediate release. I am going to grant him bail and if there is a development, you should inform the court,” she said.

By Friday morning, after a circus of going to the toilets and back, Baba Suwe was released by the NDLEA, amidst jubilation by his relations and fans. The NDLEA’s leagal team is already contemplating its next line of action.