NIGERIA: A popular Yoruba Nollywood actor arrested three weeks ago after a scanner at the Lagos international airport showed he had ingested pellets of cocaine has been freed

Record ID: 235349

  • Title: NIGERIA: A popular Yoruba Nollywood actor arrested three weeks ago after a scanner at the Lagos international airport showed he had ingested pellets of cocaine has been freed
  • Date: 8th November 2011
  • Summary: LAGOS, NIGERIA (NOVEMBER 4, 2011) (REUTERS) DVD COVERS OF BABA SUWE'S COMEDIES EXTERIOR OF LAGOS HIGH COURT WITH FANS WAITING FANS BEING LOCKED OUT OF COURTROOM VARIOUS OF FANS AND RELATIVES IN COURTROOM BABA SUWE TALKING TO HIS LAWYER BABA SUWE'S RELATIVES FANS AND JOURNALISTS WAITING OUTSIDE THE COURT BUILDING VARIOUS OF BABA SUWE COMING OUT OF COURTROOM SURROUNDED BY FANS LAWYER TALKING TO JOURNALISTS (SOUNDBITE) (English) BAMINDELE ATURU, BABA SUWE'S DEFENSE LAWYER, SAYING: "You cannot arrest a person... and I keep making this point, and then begin to search and fish for evidence. What the NDLEA has done has show utter disrespect, utter contempt for the laws of this country. And when you have utter contempt for the constitution of Nigeria it means you do not believe in the rule of law." FANS CELEBRATING BABA SUWE'S RELEASE (SOUNDBITE) (English) BAMINDELE ATURU, DEFENSE LAWYER, SAYING: "The suit that we are going to bring will be more than 1 billion now, because what we are saying is that we want to use this to teach the authorities a very important and fundamental lesson, that you must respect the laws of this country, that citizens rights are invaluable, and that you must do everything not to breach or to violate the right of Nigerian citizens." CROWD AND JOURNALISTS LISTENING TO LAWYER (SOUNDBITE) (English) SAYING: HENRY OJUNEME, RESIDENT OF LAGOS, SAYING: "You cant believe that this said machine, they have been using it for several people and they caught, this kind of evidence things... but this kind of situation at hand.. we are surprised. You give us information that this guy was carrying the substances and at the end of the day you come to say that it has not been able to... you know... evacuate it or find a kind of way to bring it out of him." FANS LEAVING COURT GROUNDS
  • Embargoed: 23rd November 2011 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Nigeria, Nigeria
  • Country: Nigeria
  • Topics: Entertainment
  • Reuters ID: LVA6NFIZODG7PU38EI1DUPDZ007G
  • Story Text: A Nigeria comedian arrested on suspicion of smuggling drugs in his stomach was released on bail on Friday (November 04) after drug enforcement agents failed to find anything inside him following an exhaustive search of his excretions.
    Babatunde Omidina popularly known in his Nollywood performances as "Baba Suwe" was arrested by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) at the Lagos International Airport on 12th October after a scanner showed he had ingested pellets of white powder. He was on his way to France to attend a family event.
    His arrest instantly made him the butt of jokes. The Nigerian media found it hard to suppress the sniggers while covering his every visit to the lavatory -- none of which yielded any drugs.
    But on Friday, some three weeks and 18 bowl movements later, the drug enforcement agency told a packed Lagos High court that they had not found any cocaine -- only a kind of local porridge.
    Omidina's long wait for bail was thus granted enabling him to walk out of court accompanied by a crowd of frenzied fans and relatives.
    Defense lawyer Bamindele Aturu, blamed the drug enforcement agency for wrongful detention of Omidina and subjecting him to unnecessary agony.
    "You cannot arrest a person... and I keep making this point, and then begin to search and fish for evidence. What the NDLEA has done has show utter disrespect, utter contempt for the laws of this country. And when you have utter contempt for the constitution of Nigeria it means you do not believe in the rule of law," he said.
    Aturu who had initially threatened to sue the drug cops 1 billion naira (6.2 million USD) for damages on behalf of his client said he would soon proceed to sue for a much higher sum, adding that, liquids had been pumped in and out of his client's stomach without consent or a doctor's supervision.
    "The suit that we are going to bring will be more than 1 billion now, because what we are saying is that we want to use this to teach the authorities a very important and fundamental lesson, that you must respect the laws of this country, that citizens rights are invaluable, and that you must do everything not to breach or to violate the right of Nigerian citizens," said Aturu.
    Fans of Omidina have called the case a debacle -- some say the joker used "black magic" to make the drugs invisible to agents.
    "You cant believe that this said machine, they have been using it for several people and they caught, this kind of evidence things... but this kind of situation at hand.. we are surprised. You give us information that this guy was carrying the substances and at the end of the day you come to say that it has not been able to... you know... evacuate it or find a kind of way to bring it out of him," said Henry Ojuneme, a resident of Lagos.
    Like many countries in West Africa, Nigeria is a major transit point for Latin America cocaine going into Europe.
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