Following an entry of nolle, a Federal High Court sitting in Awka, Anambra State, has freed six students of the Madonna University, Okija, and a deputy director of students’ affairs of the institution.
The presiding judge, Babatunde Quadro, on Thursday struck out the matter after the prosecuting counsel, Mr Arthur Obi-Okafor, said he had the approval of the Attorney General of the Federation to withdraw the charges against the students and the director.
Nolle prosequi is a Latin term which literally denotes “shall not prosecute’’. It is the exclusive power vested in the Attorney-General (AG) of the Federation, or a State within the Federation to refuse to press charges or withdraw them when a criminal case has already been instituted.
Like many other countries of the world, the Nigerian Constitution vests this power in the Attorney General.
Section 174(c) & 211(c) provide that the Attorney General of the Federation and State respectively shall have the power to discontinue any criminal proceeding at any point in time as long as a judgment has not been given.
However, subsections 3 of both sections provide that this power should be exercised in public interest, interest of justice and the need to prevent abuse of legal process.
Okafor said with the withdrawal of the case, a formal application would be made for the release of all items belonging to the students, which were seized during police investigation.
The case was between the Inspector-General of Police and the seven defendants, who were arraigned for allegedly committing offences capable of portraying Madonna University in bad light.
Specifically, their offence was that they posted an opinion on social media (Facebook) , complaining about the bad condition which the university allegedly placed the students in February, this year.
They had since been detained until respite came their way on Thursday.
Reports said that the accused persons, who were said to be editorial board members of VOX MADONNA, a magazine published by the University, were first arraigned on Feb. 16.
The names of the affected students are Benedict Amaechi, Michael Owhomani, Jonathan Abuno, Blackson Nwokeoma and Nnamdi Opara and Chijioke Nnamni a youth corps member serving in Delta State.
The prosecutor said the alleged offences were punishable under sections 27 (1) (b) and 24 (1) (b) of the Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, etc) Act, 2015.
While the case lasted, members of the National Association of Nigerian Students had barricaded the court entrance in protest to demand for unconditional release of the students by the management of the institution or face the wrath of the Nigerian students.
They demanded an unconditional release of the detained students from Awka prisons, threatened to shut down the school premises after seven day ultimatum given to the school authority.
But the Attorney-General of the Federation ordered that a nolle application be filed to discontinue the case against the students.
The prosecutor, Okafor filed the nolle application for the withdrawal of the case.
He said with the withdrawal of the case, a formal application would be made for the release of all items belonging to the students, which were seized during police investigation.
After they were freed, the former deputy director of students’ affairs, Tony Ezimo, who spoke for the students, said they had terrible experiences in the course of the trial.
Ezimo, who studied at the university and was called back to work in the institution, said, “Since this problem began in February last year, my impression has changed about a whole lot of things.
“It was not a nice experience being arrested and detained for something you know nothing about and being framed by those you trusted and worked hard to promote.
“But things happen for various reasons and I am glad that it has widened our knowledge on issues about life.
“With the striking out of the matter, I believe that justice has been done. We spent six months in detention for no justifiable reason and just striking out the case may not be the real justice, but having found ourselves in a situation like this, we have to accept it and we are grateful to the judge for granting the request of the Attorney General of the Federation to withdraw the matter from court to free us.
“All of us are young people and we can now find things to do with our lives.”
On whether he would return to the university, Ezimo said, “Definitely I will not return to Madonna University even if they pay me N2m a month.
“I worked with my whole heart and hoped that working for the institution I graduated from would enhance my career, but what I got in return was not favourable. So, I will never go there for whatever reason.”
One of the parents, Mr Christopher Onyejekwe, who shed tears of joy, regretted that despite his contributions to the growth of the university, he was treated badly.
He said, “I have been promoting Madonna University and I have trained 21 people in the university, but what I got in return was the detention of my son and six of his friends for six months for no justifiable reason.
“Of the seven students, five of them are children of widows.
“For the period the case lasted, only I and one other man were coming to court regularly.
“I went to plead 27 times for them to be released, but they were detained for four months at Onitsha Prison and two months at Awka Prison.”
He expressed gratitude to various groups and individuals who facilitated the release of the children, including the Catholic bishops of Awka and Enugu.
He also pleaded with the management of the university to release the results of the three students which the university was withholding, adding that they had paid the necessary fees and were cleared to go for the NYSC before the problem began.
