Dasuki who arrived at the court a few minutes past nine, appeared calm, burying his face in the pages of a newspaper.
UPDATE: Justice Adeniyi Ademola granted Dasuki a bail on self-recognition briefly after he pleaded not guilty to the charge which was said to violate provisions of 27(1)(a)(i) of the Firearms Act, Cap F28, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004.
Justice Ademola ordered that Dasuki should give his diplomatic passport and other traveling documents to the deputy registrar, litigation, of the court, as the only condition for the bail.
The judge also demanded that Dasuki’s traveling documents, which might be now in the custody of any government agency, should be saved and deposited with the court.
While arguing former NSA’s application for bail, Joseph Daudu, the lead defence counsel, who appeared with Ahmed Raji (SAN), together with other lawyers, defined the charge as looking “very simple, but it is a very slippery charge.”
Defence councel contended that his client needed to be on bail for him to be able to effectively defend himself. He also insisted that the supposed offence was a bailable one, adding that since the prosecution said the probe of the case had been completed, there would be no fear that the defendant would delay with investigation.
The former NSA was in charge of coordinating the war against Boko Haram terrorists during the tenure of ex-president Goodluck Jonathan.
He is the first senior official of the Jonathan administration to be charged under President Buhari’s rule.
In a search of Dasuki’s residence in Abuja on July 16, the DSS found weapons allegedly illegally in his possession as well as some vehicles.
The search resulted in a standoff between soldiers guarding his residence and the DSS operatives, which did not end until the evening of the next day.
The former NSA denied any wrongdoing at the time and said the weapons belonged to his security guards.
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