The ECOWAS court, in a ruling delivered by Justice Friday Nwoke, the presiding judge, ruled that the search on Dasuki’s house without a search warrant was unlawful.
It also ruled that the former NSA’s continued detention without trial is also unlawful since he has met the bail condition granted by the three courts before which he was arraigned.
On the ground by the federal government that there were plans to destabilise the government, the court held that it was an arbitrary claim which is not a reasonable ground to detain him indefinitely since November 2015.
The court also said that the applicant, like any other ECOWAS citizen, has a right to own and enjoy property without interference.
Dasuki has been held by the government since December 2015, despite being granted bail by three courts.
Dasuki asked the ECOWAS Court to award him N500m in damages for the alleged violation of his fundamental human rights.
Justice Nwoke had postponed the judgement originally scheduled for June 29 as judges went on vacation.
Proceedings in the case ended with the conclusion of oral evidence by two officials of the State Security Service, SSS.
Lawyers who represented the federal government, Williams Obiora and Alu Agbi, told the court that Dasuki was detained for his own protection.
Agbe said Dasuki’s release from detention would constitute a threat to national security.
They told the Court that considering that national security superseded individual security, the law permitted the SSS to restrict the movement of any citizen when his life was in danger.
They also argued that Dasuki was illegally in possession of firearms.
The lawyers cited section 3 of the Firearms Act, CAP F28 LFN 2004 of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, which prescribes arms that cannot be licensed to individuals.
The counsels also argued that the seizure of Dasuki’s property was allowed under the law under which the country’s Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, was established.
They dismissed the argument that Dasuki was granted bail by Nigerian courts of competent jurisdiction, saying there was no evidence to show he fulfilled the bail conditions for his release.
However, Dasuki’s lawyer, Robert Emukperuo, had urged the Court to disregard the defendant’s submissions on the grounds they were at variance with the documents filed.
Emukperuo asked the court to grant his client’s application, arguing that the submissions of the first witness alluded to safety and possibility of escape and not national security, contrary to one of the documents tendered by the defence.
He urged the Court to grant all the 13 reliefs sought by Dasuki, as there was no contestation he was in detention.
The Nigerian government, he said, had arraigned him before three different high courts on corruption charges, which granted him bail before he was rearrested on December 29, 2015 and has since remained in detention.
According to him, the critical issue needed to be addressed was to whether there was any legal basis for the detention other than the recourse to national security in the light of the sensitive arms or high caliber arms found in his house.
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