By Akpan David, Calabar
Men of the Anti-Cultism Squad of the Cross River State Command of the Nigeria Police Force, in alleged connivance with a Magistrate have been accused of extorting, manhandling, and unlawfully remanding a four months pregnant woman, Mrs. Blessing Dakim, at the Calabar Correctional Centre.
This was revealed in petitions submitted to the Chief Judge of Cross River State, the Commissioner of Police, and the Attorney General/Commissioner for Justice by Mrs. Dakim’s legal representatives, Chief Ignatius O. Ehiri and Dr. Prince Okon.
According to the petitions, both the Anti-Cultism Squad and the Magistrate acted outside the law by summarily trying and detaining Mrs. Dakim without following due judicial process.
In a conference call with journalists, Chief Magistrate Mercy Ene of Court 1, Calabar, who is responsible for assigning cases to magistrates, denied any knowledge of the matter.
She stated categorically that she did not authorize the Magistrate to preside over the case.
In a formal petition submitted to the Chief Judge by the law firm Lex Loci Advocates and signed by Chief Ehiri, the Magistrate was accused of engaging in several irregular and unethical practices that cast the state judiciary in a negative light.
However, in a phone interview, the Magistrate, who sits at Ikot Nakanda in Akpabuyo Local Government Area, maintained that he acted within his legal powers in ordering the detention of Mrs. Dakim, with or without clearance from higher authorities.
He insisted that the bail conditions he set were lenient and that she would be released once they were met.
Further investigation revealed that a businessman, who operates between Calabar and Lagos, allegedly enlisted the Anti-Cultism Squad, headed by a Chief Superintendent to recover an alleged debt from Mrs. Dakim and her husband, Mr. Dakim Moses Agbor, who regularly supply him with wood.
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