The Managing Director of Capital Oil and Gas Limited, Ifeanyi Ubah, has dragged the Department of State Services, DSS, before the Federal High Court Lagos over what he described as unlawful detention by the security agency. Mr. Ubah’s lawyer, Ifeoma Esom, on Tuesday brought an ex parte before Justice Mohammed Idris, alleging that her client had been in detention since May 6.
Mrs. Esom asked the court to order the DSS to release her client in order to prevent the security agency from forcing him to accede to “whatever conditions they impose on him in exchange for his freedom.”
In response, Justice Idris ordered the DSS to bring Ubah before him on May 12, 2017, to show cause why the oil mogul should not be released unconditionally.
In an affidavit filed in support of the application, Secretary of Capital Oil and Gas Limited, Mr. George Oranuba, said the DSS arrested their Chairman of allegations levelled against him by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation and the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria, which according to Oranuba, was already a subject of litigation and before the court.
He stated that despite the fact that the matter was before a court, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, and the DSS still invited Ubah for questioning.
Ubah had earlier been detained from March 24 to April 14, 2017, Oranuba disclosed.
The DSS had claimed that it arrested and detained Ubah for “economic sabotage” involving alleged diversion of petroleum products worth about N11bn.
The agency explained that the said petroleum products, belonging to NNPC Retail, stored in the Capital Oil farm in Lagos, went missing under controversial circumstances.
But Oranuba said the agreement that led to the stroing of the petroleum product at Capital Oil, allowed “conversion and diversion of IT products by operators as long as the operator is prepared to re-deliver the products within seven days of demand by the owner of the product or to pay a penalty for non-re-delivery.”
He argued that failure to re-deliver did not amount to a crime, rather a mere breach of contract, which can be remedied by payment of a penalty to the owner.
“The agreement expressly states that any penalty due for non-re-delivery is to be treated as a debt and I verily believe that law enforcement agencies are not allowed to operate as debt collectors,” he said.
Oranuba revealed that NNPC is indebted to Capital Oil and Gas Limited in “excess of N13bn yet the company did not call law enforcement agencies to collect the debt, despite the length of time NNPC has held on to the money.”
Mr. Ubah had described his arrest by the Department of State Services as a complete attempt to blackmail him.
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