JUST IN: Appeal Court Upholds Conviction Of Maina’s Son For Money Laundering

Maina, who is currently serving an eight-year jail term at the Kuje Prison in Abuja for laundering N2 billion, had sued the Minister of Interior and the Controller General (C-G) of Nigeria Correctional Service (NCoS), claiming rights violation for allegedly being denied access to medical attention.

In a judgment yesterday, Justice Inyang Ekwo said: “In my opinion, this application is a ruse. It is an attempt to belittle the essence of criminal conviction and to aid the applicant (Maina) to live above the law. I find that the application lacks merit and I make an order dismissing it.”

The judge averred that if Maina was saying that the University of Abuja Teaching Hospital was not a reputable and recognised hospital, then he had missed the point.

“I hereby state categorically that a teaching hospital in Nigeria is a reputable and recognised hospital,” he added.

Justice Ekwo also held that although it is accepted universally that prisoners have a right to receive medical treatment, such prisoners generally do not have a right to choose a specific venue/facility for treatment and cannot hold the state to ransom by sucLaundering

He added: “This application, in my opinion, is a clear evidence of the fact that the applicant is yet to undergo any degree of reformation that his conviction and sentence to prison custody is meant to achieve.

“From the evidence before me, it is manifestly clear that the applicant is not just looking for medical treatment but an indulgent lifestyle while in prison.

“He wants to be treated as a privileged person with absolute rights and privileges.

“It is either the applicant does not understand the limitations of a custodial life or he is pretending not to do so.

“The court will not interfere with the actions and decisions of the custodial authorities once it is demonstrated that they acted within the confines of the statute regulating the performance of their functions,” Justice Ekwo said. Nations Online