IF a soothsayer, a star gazer or a fortune teller had told popular Nigerian Comedian, Mr. Babatunde Omidina, widely known as Baba Suwe on January 1, 2011 that he would find himself in the net of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) before the end of the year,he would certainly have told any of them that he should immediately go to a Psychiatrist for comprehensive test to determine his mental status.Omidina, 53, could not have believed that sometime during the year, he would be an unenviable guest of NDLEA for a couple of weeks over allegation that he injected some substances suspected to be narcotics.Again, if any babalawo had told Omidina that his trip to Paris, France, on October 12, 2011 could be aborted that ill- fated day at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos by a government agency thereby making it impossible for him to keep his all-important appointment in President Nicholas Sarkozy's country as scheduled, he would definitely not believe the babalawo's prediction.But this notwithstanding, Omidina's arrest at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos by NDLEA officials on October 12, 2011 as he was attempting to board a France ' bound plane, is now history.It would be recalled that following his arrest by NDLEA officials, the actor who enjoys large followership among watchers of Yoruba movies across the country and even beyond, ended up spending about four weeks in the custody of NDLEA.The celebrated actor, according to NDLEA officials, was arrested on suspicion that he injected hard drugs. The officials claimed that their scanning machine at the airport indicated that Omidina had injected substances suspected to be hard drugs. It was therefore for this reason that he was in the agency's custody so that he can be monitored closely.During the period, the officials expected that the actor would excrete the substances injected and this would therefore confirm the allegation that he had injected substances suspected to be narcotics.It is noteworthy that after several excretions that showed no sign that the actor had injected substances suspected to be narcotics, the actor was not released despite the fact that his fundamental human rights had been trampled upon having been in custody for more than 24 hours without being charged to court by NDLEA as required by law.It is surprising that an affidavit deposed to by the agency's Intelligent Officer, Mr. Femi Johnson Osifuye and a CT scan result issued by a Consultant Radiologist with the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH), Dr Subhash Vijayvargiya reportedly confirmed that Omidina had large amount of narcotic drugs in his body.It would also be recalled that on the day he was arrested at the airport, the scanning machine there reportedly indicated that the actor had injected some substances to be hard drugs.Again, it would be recalled that shortly after the actor was arrested at the airport, the NDLEA officials were, like their counterparts in other law enforcement agencies across the country, grandstanding all over the place giving everybody as usual, the impression that they had caught a big fish or criminal, especially judging by the caliber of the celebrated comedian.Put succinctly, the impression created by NDLEA as perceived by right ' thinking Nigerians with discerning minds was that Omidina had injected substances suspected to be narcotics and was therefore already guilty even before undergoing trial. Like some former governors experienced recently when they were arrested by officials of the Economic Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Baba Suwe too had experienced his own share of media trial as against court trial.This was why throughout his stay in the custody of NDLEA, the media were awash with sensational and media trial stories concerning the accomplished actor.There is no doubt that the NDLEA officials must be covering their ugly faces in shame now. For instance, despite the fact that the actor was in their custody for a considerable number of days, their concerted efforts to forcibly make him excrete substances suspected to be narcotics which they alleged he had injected, did not produce their much ' desired result after all.They must have also been disappointed that the funny results credited to their scanning machine at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos, as well as the so-called CT scan result issued by Vijagvarigiya, cannot be relied upon at all.And so, in spite of the suspicious and unprofessional machinations of the NDLEA officials and those of their collaborators to implicate the actor, it is however, heartwarming that he was able to regain his freedom to enable him return home following the order granted by a Federal High Court in Lagos.Being the last hope of the common man, the court helped in preventing a situation in which Omidina would have his stay further extended in the custody of NDLEA where he would be subjected to the agonising process of excreting suspected substances that are not in his body.There is no doubt that Omidina's excruciating experience has again brought to the fore the tales of woe concerning the bitter experiences in the hands of NDLEA officials ordinary Nigerians, in particular undergo whenever they are unlucky to find themselves in the custody of any of the law enforcement agencies in the country. And if this could happen to a well-known personality like Omidina, one can imagine what could happen to an unknown or uncelebrated citizen in the country.It is saddening and worrisome that the court had to intervene through Omidina's lawyer, Mr. Bamidele Aturu before justice could be done.What was NDLEA still looking for despite the fact that after over 15 excretions and after 20 days in their custody, the actor injected none of the so-called suspected substances' I am sure the NDLEA officials were already ashamed of their actions but they could not come out openly to apologise for having shot themselves in the 'foot'.NDLEA's bloated ego had since been punctured when it realised its expectations to find suspected substances in Omidina's system did not materialise after all.Omidina's recent travail has further portrayed the country's law enforcement agencies as ill- equipped, inefficient ineffective, sloppy, uncoordinated, disorganised, unproductive, uninspiring, people ' unfriendly, unimaginative, lawless and wicked.The scanning machine at the Lagos Airport office of the NDLEA that provided the misleading information concerning the status of the actor should be thrown into the lagoon. Same is applicable to the operators of the jinxed machine. The originator of the false report issued by LASUTH should be penalised to serve as a deterrent to others.We now know why innocent patients lose their precious lives in hospitals across the country through wrong diagnosis and medical reports by doctors after using faulty and outdated medical equipment.While the generality of Nigerians and even the international community are eagerly waiting for the outcome of the court sitting in Lagos on November 24, 2011, Omidina should be encouraged to sue the NDLEA for a whopping amount for having unlawfully kept him for so long in their custody without charging him to court. He should also sue the agency for having made him to defecate for more than 15 times without finding none of the substances suspected to be narcotics he was alleged to have injected.If Omidina takes this bold action, it would certainly serve as a deterrent to other overzealous law enforcement officials in the country.Finally, I doff my hat for Aturu for remaining focused and unrelenting in his human rights struggles in the country over the years.
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