Alleged Murder: Lagos Police Frees American Lady After 44 Days In Detention

The authorities of the Lagos State Police Command on Wednesday
released Kari Ann O’Rourke, the American lady held in custody since
February 9, 2021. Kari Ann was arrested at the Murtala Mohammed
International Airport on February 8, 2021, following the death of
her host in Nigeria, whom she left with his family in good
health.

The police arrested and detained Kari Ann at the State Criminal
Investigation Department, Panti, Yaba, Lagos and kept her in
custody, even when the autopsy report indicated that her host died
of heart trauma and cardiac arrest, thus exonerating Kari Ann of
any involvement in his death.

When all efforts to get Kari Ann released on bail failed, she
engaged human rights activist and Senior Advocate of Nigeria,
Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa, to challenge her continued detention,
following which a suit was filed at the Federal High Court, Lagos
on March 18, 2021. In that suit, Kari Ann sought declarations
against her arrest and detention, an order for her immediate
release and N100m damages against the police. In the course of
time, Kari Ann’s lawyers discovered, upon further investigation,
that the case file had been forwarded to the Lagos State Ministry
of Justice a long ago and that a legal opinion had been issued by
the Director of Public Prosecutions, to the extent that there was
no prima facie case worthy of prosecution.

In the Legal Advice dated March 5, 2021 and signed by the DPP,
it was stated as follows:

“The medical report attached to the duplicate case file
establishes that the cause of the deceased’s death were acute
cardiac failure and hypertensive heart disease … The presence of
Page B1-B4 at the … hotel at the time of death and their actions on
how to go about the incidence aroused suspicions by the deceased’s
family which led to the suspects’ arrest.

They were arrested by the police upon mere suspicion which no
matter how strong can never ground a conviction … In the light of
the above, this office shall not prosecute the suspects … for the
offences of conspiracy to murder and murder … They should therefore
be discharged and released if still in custody, as there is no case
to be established against them from the facts presented in the
duplicate case file.”

Upon obtaining the certified copy of the above Legal Advice,
Kari Ann’s lawyers insisted on her immediate release from unlawful
custody, following which she was released on Wednesday, March 24,
2021, having spent over 44 days in illegal custody.

Adegboruwa appealed to the police to show greater respect for
the rights of citizens, stating that this case has shown the
intolerable level of impunity prevalent within the law enforcement
agencies, whereby the police did not comply with the valid
directive of the Ministry of Justice, which is the body recognized
by law for the prosecution of suspects. He lamented that Kari Ann
was still being detained even after the police got the legal advice
since March 5, 2021.

The authorities of the Lagos State Police Command on Wednesday
released Kari Ann O’Rourke, the American lady held in custody since
February 9, 2021. Kari Ann was arrested at the Murtala Mohammed
International Airport on February 8, 2021, following the death of
her host in Nigeria, whom she left with his family in good
health.

The police arrested and detained Kari Ann at the State Criminal
Investigation Department, Panti, Yaba, Lagos and kept her in
custody, even when the autopsy report indicated that her host died
of heart trauma and cardiac arrest, thus exonerating Kari Ann of
any involvement in his death.

When all efforts to get Kari Ann released on bail failed, she
engaged human rights activist and Senior Advocate of Nigeria,
Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa, to challenge her continued detention,
following which a suit was filed at the Federal High Court, Lagos
on March 18, 2021. In that suit, Kari Ann sought declarations
against her arrest and detention, an order for her immediate
release and N100m damages against the police. In the course of
time, Kari Ann’s lawyers discovered, upon further investigation,
that the case file had been forwarded to the Lagos State Ministry
of Justice a long ago and that a legal opinion had been issued by
the Director of Public Prosecutions, to the extent that there was
no prima facie case worthy of prosecution.

In the Legal Advice dated March 5, 2021 and signed by the DPP,
it was stated as follows:

“The medical report attached to the duplicate case file
establishes that the cause of the deceased’s death were acute
cardiac failure and hypertensive heart disease … The presence of
Page B1-B4 at the … hotel at the time of death and their actions on
how to go about the incidence aroused suspicions by the deceased’s
family which led to the suspects’ arrest.

They were arrested by the police upon mere suspicion which no
matter how strong can never ground a conviction … In the light of
the above, this office shall not prosecute the suspects … for the
offences of conspiracy to murder and murder … They should therefore
be discharged and released if still in custody, as there is no case
to be established against them from the facts presented in the
duplicate case file.”

Upon obtaining the certified copy of the above Legal Advice,
Kari Ann’s lawyers insisted on her immediate release from unlawful
custody, following which she was released on Wednesday, March 24,
2021, having spent over 44 days in illegal custody.

Adegboruwa appealed to the police to show greater respect for
the rights of citizens, stating that this case has shown the
intolerable level of impunity prevalent within the law enforcement
agencies, whereby the police did not comply with the valid
directive of the Ministry of Justice, which is the body recognized
by law for the prosecution of suspects. He lamented that Kari Ann
was still being detained even after the police got the legal advice
since March 5, 2021.