The Federal High Court, Abuja, on Wednesday, dismissed a suit filed by a pension fraudster still serving a jail term, Abdulrasheed Maina, requesting to be treated for certain ailments at his chosen hospital.
Mr Maina, the former chairperson of the defunct Pension Reform Task Team (PRTT), is serving an eight-year jail term at Kuje Prison in Abuja for pension fraud to the tune of N2 billion.
The convict, who is facing another ongoing trial on pension fraud charges, had filed his suit to obtain the court’s permission to seek medical treatment at “a reputable hospital” outside the prisons.
He claimed that a denial of the prayer could lead to a violation of his rights by the Minister of Interior, the Controller General of the Nigeria Correctional Service (NCoS), and the NCoS itself.
He told the court in the suit he filed on 27 September that he was suffering from a life-threatening disease in custody, and was in need of urgent medical attention.
The interior minister and the prison authorities, sued as defendants, opposed the suit saying it was an attempt by Mr Maina to create an avenue for escaping from prison.
Judgement
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the judge, Inyang Ekwo, dismissed the suit in a judgement on Wednesday, holding that Mr Maina could not substantiate his claims.
The judge said the convict’s suit was an attempt to trivialise criminal conviction, citing the convict’s medical records confirming that he was getting adequate medical attention in custody.
“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) live above the law.
“I find that the application lacks merit and I make an order dismissing it,” Mr Ekwo declared.
He said records filed as exhibits showed that Mr Maina had been taken to the Cardiological Department, the Orthopedic Department as well as the ENT Department of the University of Abuja Teaching Hospital about 23 times.
According to him, it is universally accepted that prisoners have a right to receive medical treatment, but not to choose a particular hospital and hold the state to ransom on such demand.
He said the treatments Mr Maina got at the hospital were suitable for his station in life as of the time of filing the application.
“Taking a prisoner to a hospital for 23 times demonstrates care and attention on the part of the custodial authorities.
“The allegation of the applicant that the refusal of the respondents to take the applicant to a reputable and recognised hospital for medical attention or treatment, cannot be founded in the circumstance of this case,” the judge said.
Contrary to Mr Maina’s claims, the judge held “categorically” that “a teaching hospital in Nigeria is a reputable and recognised hospital.”
“This application, in my opinion, is 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,” the judge said.
He called Mr Maina’s attention to “the limitations of a custodial life.”
“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,” the judge said.
Maina planned to escape from prison – Official
The defendants – the Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola and the NCoS Controller General, Haliru Nababa – had opposed Mr Maina’s suit, saying the convict only feigned ailment to earn a justification to be taken out of the prisons.
The officials said in their joint filings against Mr Maina’s suit that an intelligence report revealed: “that the applicant (Maina) only feigns the ailments for him to be taken out of the custodial facility to aid his escape from lawful custody.”
They said contrary to Mr Maina’s claim, he was never refused access to medical services in custody.
Rather, they said, Mr Maina wanted to be taken outside the prisons for treatment so he can escape from lawful custody.
They said Mr Maina was given access to the University of Abuja Teaching Hospital in Gwagwalada for treatment on different occasions, only for it to be discovered that he had only put up a gimmick to obtain a referral to the hospital.
They said the operatives of the NCoS received a confidential, top-secret intelligence report that Mr Maina was planning his escape with “armed gunmen” suspected to be loyal to him.
They described the medical reports he produced in support of his suit as “self-induced.”
They told the court that Mr Maina was only raising false health alarms, and urged the court to dismiss the suit.
Trial characterised by ill health deceit
This is not the first time Mr Maina would be adjudged to feign illness as a means of avoiding justice.
His trial for about a year before another judge, Okon Abang, of the Federal High Court in Abuja was punctuated by complaints of ill health.
Mr Maina jumped bail in the middle of the trial, prompting the trial judge, to issue an arrest warrant against him and order his trial to proceed in his absence in November
As a consequence, the judge imprisoned his surety, Ali Ndume, a serving senator, for some days.
Mr Maina was later rearrested in Niger Republic and brought back to Nigeria in December 2020 to continue his trial.
Weeks later after his rearrest, Mr Maina filed another application for bail on health grounds.
Suspecting that his record of jumping bail would count against his fresh bail application, Mr Maina said he needed to travel to Niger Republic to treat a leg that he said was at risk of being amputated at the time.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), the agency prosecuting him, vehemently opposed the bail application.
The court dismissed the fresh bail application in a ruling on 25 February 2021, on the grounds that Mr Maina had earlier betrayed trust by jumping bail.
At the end of the trial, the court, on 8 November 2021, jailed Mr Maina for 12 years after convicting him on all 12 counts preferred against him by the EFCC.
Still serving the jail term, Mr Maina is facing another pension fraud trial at the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) in Abuja.
Mr Maina’s ill health claim has stalled the trial on different occasions.
