Nigeria’s
immediate past National Security Adviser, Sambo Dasuki, has been formally
charged with illegal possession of firearms.
Charges filed by
Nigeria’s Director of Public Prosecutions,
Mohammed Diri, indicate that Mr. Dasuki would appear in an Abuja court
on Tuesday to face charges including unlawful possession of several assault
rifles and ammunition.
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learnt the former NSA would be arraigned before a vacation judge since Nigerian
courts are currently on vacation.
The charges would
be read to him, and he would be allowed to take his plea. The case will then be
assigned to another judge once the courts reopens.
A source close to
Mr. Dasuki said the former NSA would most likely plead not guilty to the
charges, following which his lawyers would move an oral application for bail.
Mr. Dasuki,
appointed by former President Goodluck Jonathan, to coordinate Nigeria’s
security agencies in the heat of the country’s war against Boko Haram
insurgents, has had a rough time since he was removed last month.
Shortly after he
was fired, he was placed under house arrest while his home, in the heart of the
city, was searched by Nigeria’s secret police, the State Security Service, in a standoff that lasted several hours.