Court orders arrest of Naval Commander in Rivers

A Federal High Court in Port Harcourt, Rivers State on Wednesday, November 25, 2020, has issued a bench warrant on Commander of the Nigerian Navy Pathfinder, Rumuolumeni, Com. Sam Bora.

The court accused Bora of failing to appear before it and refusing to release an arrested suspect.

Hilary Oshoma, the trial judge, also ordered that the Inspector General of Police (IG), Mohammed Adamu, and his men, arrest and bring Bora to the court on December 3 to show cause why he should not be disciplined.

The plaintiff’s lawyer, Christian Woke, said Naval officers arrested his client, Ledumbari Nafiri, on August 2.

Woke added that the Navy also denied his client access to his lawyer and defied a valid court order to release him.

He said: “My client was arrested in a commando style when the Naval officers invaded his house, took away his properties, and held him incommunicado.

“When the court finally ordered that Nafiri be released, the order was served on Sam Bora, the Commanding Officer of Navy Pathfinder, Rumuolumini, Port Harcourt. But he refused to obey the order and instead transferred Nafiri to Abuja. The same order was served on the Abuja Naval office and they still refused to release him.”

Woke hailed the court’s decision, explaining that the warrant was issued against the senior Naval officer because he failed to honour the court’s summons thrice.

Though the Navy had yet to make official statement on the warrant, a senior officer said they were in shock.