A legal practitioner, A. A. Ibrahim, has petitioned the Chief Judge of Kwara State, Justice A. A. Adebara, over the alleged unlawful remand of two defendants at the Madala Correctional Centre in Ilorin.
The lawyer, who represents AbdulKadir Usman and Taiye Laufe, accused Justice T. S. Umar of alleged gross misconduct, abuse of judicial office and failure to comply with legal procedures governing the remand of defendants in custody.
In the petition, Ibrahim alleged that his clients were remanded on October 26, 2026, without being formally arraigned before a court for the purpose of taking their pleas and without a valid judicial remand order.
He stated that Charge No. KWS/379C/2026 had been filed at the registry of the High Court of Justice in Ilorin and that the parties were awaiting the assignment of the case to a judge when the remand warrant was allegedly signed by Justice Umar.
According to the lawyer, the defendants were subsequently taken to the correctional facility despite what he described as the absence of a valid, properly authorised remand order specifying the duration of their detention.
Ibrahim further maintained that the offences listed in the charge sheet were bailable, arguing that the circumstances surrounding the defendants’ detention raised serious concerns about their constitutional right to personal liberty.
The counsel alleged that the judge entertained what he described as a prohibited “holding charge”, a practice he argued was inconsistent with established principles of criminal justice and amounted to an abuse of judicial process.
To support his argument, he cited the Supreme Court decisions in Onagoruwa v. State (1992) and Jimoh v. C.O.P. (2004), which he said underscored the legal concerns associated with the use of holding charges.
He also invoked Section 35 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, as amended, which guarantees the right to personal liberty, subject to constitutionally recognised exceptions.
The lawyer urged the Chief Judge, in her capacity as head of the state judiciary and chairman of the Judicial Service Commission, to investigate Justice Umar’s handling of the matter and establish the circumstances surrounding the defendants’ remand.
He further requested that the judge be required to explain the legal basis for the detention and called for appropriate disciplinary action if the allegations were substantiated.
The petition described the alleged incident as a matter of serious concern for the administration of justice, stressing the need for judicial officers to uphold due process, protect fundamental rights and ensure that every deprivation of liberty is supported by lawful authority.
