The defendant was accused of having in his possession 123 rounds of live ammunition without a licence, which is contrary to section 8 of the Firearms Act Cap F28 Laws of the Federation 2004 and punishable under Section 27 of the same Act.But rather than obey court ruling which remanded Emefiele in the custody of the Ikoyi Custodial Centre of the Nigerian Correctional Services, the Department of State Services had rearrested and kept him in its custody.
The DPP stated that his oral application was brought in pursuant to sections 108 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act and 107 of the 1999 Constitution. “Every application they brought against any citizen of this country under section 174 is a nolle prosequi. The government cannot come before the court orally for that; it ought to be by “nolle prosequi”, at the point in time there is no application before the court.
Daudu stated that the court also granted the defendant an order of substituted service to be published in three national newspapers. He stated that while section 107 provides that the application for withdrawal shall be in writing, Section 108 is silent on the mode. It gives the prosecutor the authority to apply to the judge, and our application was made under Section 108.