Yoruba movie actor, Babatunde Omidina, popularly called Baba Suwe is planning to file a N1bn suit against the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency over his continuing arrest and detention.
Baba Suwe was arrested by NDLEA on Wednesday last week at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos while boarding an Air France flight to Paris and is still being detained.
The NDLEA said its scanners at the airport indicated that the 53-year-old Nollywood star had some substance suspected to be banned drugs in his system. But there have been no evidence to substantiate the claim even after the suspect had excreted thrice under close observation.
His lawyer, Mohammed Bashir, told the News Agency of Nigeria in a telephone interview on Wednesday that a fundamental rights enforcement suit would be filed on his behalf within the next five days.
Bashir said, “We will be filing the suit before a Federal High Court in Lagos between now and Monday.
“We will be asking for N1bn as compensation for damages suffered by him due to his illegal arrest and detention, as well as the embarrassment and defamation done to his reputation as a result of the incident.”
Meanwhile, the anti-drug agency on Wednesday said Baba Suwe was ‘still under observation’, eight days after he was arrested.
NDLEA’s spokesman, Mr. Mitchell Ofoyeju, told our correspondent on the telephone that the celebrated actor would “remain in custody” until investigation was concluded.
“He is still under observation. We will invite the media when we conclude our investigation,” Ofoyeju said.
He also refused to say when Omidina would be released, but said investigation would be completed “very soon”.
He declined to speak on the outcome of the CT scan carried out on Omidina early this week.
He said, “The CT Scan test and other issues are purely our investigative process. We don’t like to discuss it on the pages of newspapers. All I know is that we will be through with the investigation very soon.”
CT scanning – sometimes called CAT scanning – is a non-invasive medical test that helps physicians diagnose and treat cancer and cardiovascular disease. It provides greater clarity and reveals more details than regular X-ray examinations.
The Director-General, NDLEA, Mr. Femi Ajayi, on Monday said Baba Suwe would be released if the results of his CT Scan and third excretion showed he was negative.
He said suspects kept under observation must make “at least three excretions” to convince anti-narcotics investigators they did not ingest drug.
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