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From Godwin Tsa, Abuja
A former operative of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, Williams Olanrewaju, has dragged the Agency alongside four others before the National Industrial Court of Nigeria, NICN, Abuja, over alleged unlawful dismissal from service while exposing corruption in the Agency.
In a suit marked NICN /ABJ/248/2022, Olanrewaju exposed what he described as monumental corrupt activities in the agency.
The suit listed the NDLEA, its Chairman, Gen. Mohamed Marwa, Zirangeh Sunday Drambi, Samuel Okereke Abarogu (Assistant Commander of Narcotic, ACN); and Tapuyen Sunday, ACN, as 2nd to 5th defendants respectively.
He specifically attributed his unlawful dismissal for his role in exposing alleged corrupt practices of some of his colleagues at the Special Enforcement Team/ Sensitive Investigative Unit SET/SIU, Lagos, where he had worked between February 2016 to October 2019.
The claimant who is represented by a team of six lawyers led by Sunday Adaji, said he worked until March 24, 2022, when he was served a Notice of Punishment without management investigation and later “dismissed unlawfully.
He told the court that he joined the agency in 2011 and rose to the level of Chief Narcotic Agent (CNA), adding that were it not for alleged victimisation, he would have been promoted to the rank of Assistant Superintendent of Narcotic before his summary dismissal from office.
The claimant explained that while working at the SET/SIU Lekki office, Lagos, he had issues with his senior officers over “their corrupt activities ranging from frustrating him from accessing vital information, collecting bribes from suspects, missing files, aiding and abetting, tampering with drugs seized, and seizure of drug from a drug courier and refusing to arrest the person caught with hard drug.”
In an affidavit in support of the suit, the claimant further stated that, “They saw him as a threat to their corrupt activities and so planned to get him out of the Unit, which they eventually did.
He also sought an order of court directing the NDLEA to pay him the sum of N90 million compensation as damages for the violation of his rights.
In a 77 paragraph statement on oath, claimant traced his ordeal to the SET/SIU Lekki office, Lagos, where he had issues with his senior officers over “their corrupt activities”.
According to him his seniors were allegedly engaged in collecting bribes from suspects, aiding and abetting, tampering with drugs seized, ensuring the disappearance of files, refusing to arrest person caught with hard drug.
Claimant claimed to be in possession of evidence, including those in his office desktop computer, laptop and devices, to prove his allegations of the corrupt practices perpetrated by the mentioned officers.
He explained that on September 24, 2019, he and other officers of the SET/SIU, collected 3 kilogram of Heroin from one drug courier at Farm City Lounge, Lekki, close to SIU office in Lekki but, he was later told, “not to write anything in the report because the 3kg of heroin would be kept for evidence in future arrest.”
He said he was shocked and displeased by the action and later realised that his superior “had tampered with the 3 kilogram of Heroin”, which ought to have been taken to the NDLEA’s “Central Exhibit for safe keeping”.
The Court papers alleged that, “The corrupt officers always instructed a lawyer to arrest suspects for extortion and promised them that their cases would be frustrated if they could pay them through the lawyer.
According to him, while his superiors stopped him from investigating most persons whom they have collected bribes and refused to arrest and prosecute, then then arrested, tortured and put him under dehumanizing condition for 14 days, and without food for 8 days.
He prayed the court to declare as illegal his orderly room trial, that he is still validly in the service of NDLEA, a perpetual injunction restraining the NDLEA and it’s officers from further subjecting him to inhuman and degrading treatment as well as restoration of his monthly salary of eighty-two thousand naira (N82,000.00k) and the sum of thirty million naira (N30,000,000.00k) being compensation for violating his right to personal liberty as guaranteed by section 34 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999, as amended, Article 5 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights (Ratification and Enforcement) Act Chapter AB (Chapter 10 LFN 1990) and Article 5 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights 1948.
