Instead of apologizing to US-based physician John Mabayoje for wrongfully detaining him on spurious gunrunning charges, officials of the Nigerian Customs Service have offered the detainee a so-called administrative bail with stiff conditions. Dr. Mabayoje, an internationally acclaimed hunter, has since last week been detained by officials of the Customs on false weapons importation charges.
The agency’s stiff administrative bail conditions include a deposit of N10 million. In addition, Dr. Mabayoje was required to provide a traditional ruler of means and/or a federal minister who owns a house in highbrow Lekki, Victoria Island, Lagos or Abuja.
Speaking today to Saharareporters, one of the physician’s lawyers said Dr. Mabayoje was in no position to meet the bail conditions. Family members said they fear for the safety of Dr. Mabayoje as custom officials bicker internally over the embarrassing situation.
The lawyer described the bail terms as “ridiculous,” adding “the Customs top brass ought to know by now that the agency has no grounds to have arrested and detained the physician in the first place.”
A relative of the detained physician, who was in the process of relocating to Nigeria where he is setting up a fully-equipped hospital, said Dr. Mabayoje’s lawyers plan to go to court to “challenge the Nigerian Customs Service for the violations of his human rights.”
The NCS has yet to file any charges against the doctor as well as his family friend, Femi Ajanaku, and three customs agents detained along with him since a week ag
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