Court Insists NDLEA Pays Baba Suwe the N25M Compensation

       The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has finally  been ordered by an Ikeja High Court  Friday March 2,2012  to deposit the N25 million judgement sum awarded in favour of popular comic actor , Babatunde Omidina popularly known as  Baba Suwe with the court’s Chief Registrar.

   Justice Yetunde Idowu ordered that the N25 million should be paid into an interest yielding account within 21 days.

    The court gave the order while ruling on an application filed by the NDLEA seeking for the suspension of the payment pending the determination of its appeal case at the Court of Appeal. 

   The N25 million is to be deposited with the registrar in an interest-yielding account and in a bank agreed upon by the parties in the suit.This should be done pending hearing and determination of the appeal filed by the NDLEA against the court's judgment at the Appeal Court in Lagos.

   The judge  said the above conditions must be met by the agency. "Leaving the judgment sum to the judgment debtor will smack of an unfair advantage’’,the NDLEA had failed to provide sufficient proof of its actual resources and expenditure before the court. ``An order for stay of execution should not be sought to serve as a substitute for the judgment the trial court denied the party," She said.

    NDLEA’s lawyer, Mr Femi Oloruntoba, had on Dec. 6, 2011 filed an appeal against the judgment at the Appeal Court and on Feb. 8, he also approached the court for a stay of execution of the judgment.

    The N25m will be paid to  compensate baba suwe for his illegal arrest and detention last october  by the agency at the Murtala muhammed international airport while traveling to paris .