Guardian: S’Court voids naval officer’s conviction

[NewsCaster]

THE Supreme Court has voided the conviction of Rear Admiral Francis Agbiti by a General Court Martial, which also dismissed him from the Navy for allegedly letting a seized ship to escape.

In a unanimous judgment five justices of the apex court struck down Agbiti's conviction on the premise that his right to fair hearing provided under Section 36 of the constitution was breached by the General Court Martial.

Agbiti was arraigned on November 1, 2004 alongside Rear Admiral S.B. Kolawole and Rear Admiral Bob-Manuel for their alleged role in the mysterious escape of a vessel MT African Pride from lawful custody of the Nigerian Navy.

The naval authority said that Agbiti refused to hand over the vessel to the Nigeria Police in sheer disregard to the instruction of the then Chief of Naval Staff.        

In 2004, President Olusegun Obasanjo had directed the Chief of Naval Staff to release all arrested vessels inclusive  MT African Pride under the custody of the Nigerian Navy to the police.

But mysteriously, MT African Pride escaped from custody.

In a judgment delivered in 2004, Agbiti was found guilty of engaging in conduct prejudice of service discipline contrary to Section 103 (1) of the Armed Forces Act, Cap 120 Laws of the Federation in that he wrongfully released a signal which led to the non-compliance with the order of the Chief of Naval Staff that all arrested vessels under the custody of the Nigerian Navy be handed over to the police.

Agbiti appealed to the Court of Appeal but his appeal was dismissed. Still dissatisfied, he appealed to the Supreme Court.

In allowing his appeal, the apex court noted that Agbiti's objection to the composition of the court martial was not given due consideration.

In coming to a conclusion that the appeal was meritorious, the Supreme Court noted that at the beginning of the trial, Agbiti objected to the composition of the court martial on two grounds. First, Agbiti said two members of the court martial were his junior and therefore not qualified under the law to try him.

He also alleged that the President of the court martial, Rear Admiral J.M. Ajayi would not be fair to him because their paths had crossed in the Navy. He also objected to another member of the court martial, Rear Admiral Oni participating in the trial. He accused Oni of sponsoring a publication  against him in the Insider Weekly Magazine. He therefore asked both the President and Oni to disqualify themselves from the tribunal.

Upon examining the proceedings, Justice Olufunlola Adekeye who delivered the lead judgment held that the President of the court martial failed to give reasons for over-ruling Agbiti's objection to him presiding over the trial.

She held: "The court martial which is a military court recognized by the Constitution is also always bound by the criminal rules of evidence and manifestations of fair trial. Where such is breached, the over all trial becomes a nullity."

She consequently declared the refusal of the president of the court martial to disqualify himself or give reasons for failing to do so a violation of the accused person.

The apex court also found as a fact that Agbiti was a senior to two members of the tribunal namely, Major General Akpa and Air Vice Marshal Odesola. The court held that the duo should not have been members of the tribunal.

Justice Adekeye held that the composition of members of the court is a condition precedent imposed by statute and that non-compliance with the provisions of the statute stripped the tribunal of competence.

She concluded that the court martial lacked the jurisdiction to try Agbiti and therefore the trial amounted to a nullity.

Source: S'Court voids naval officer's conviction