Nollywood Comedian, Baba Suwe not getting the N25 million compensation - NDLEA

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), on Friday, returned to the Court of Appeal, Lagos, to secure a stay of execution of last November’s judgment of the state’s High Court to pay the comedian, Babtunde Omidina (Baba Suwe) N25 million as compensation for wrongfully detaining him over drug trafficking allegations. 

Justice Yetunde Idowu had ruled in November that the anti-narcotics agency infringed on the rights of the actor; especially as no drugs were discovered on him after several days of being held in detention.

Dissatisfied with the court judgment, the agency in December last year filed a motion for stay of execution of the entire verdict.

Femi Oloruntoba, the agency’s Director of Prosecution and Legal Services, said the agency has “shown exceptional or special circumstances upon which the Appeal Court will exercise its discretion in granting the application”.

The lower court had ruled on March 2 and refused the application on the ground that the applicant is granted a conditional stay of execution pending the determination of the appeal. It added that the N25 million be paid to the Chief Registrar of the Lagos State High Court who will in turn pay the said amount into an account with any reputable bank agreed by both parties; pending the determination of the matter.