Daily Independent Online.
*
Tuesday, June 22, 2004.
I can’t produce Taylor in court, says Duke
By Bassey Inyang
Correspondent,
Calabar
Cross
River State Governor Donald Duke has declared that he is not in a position to
produce former Liberian President Charles Taylor before the Federal High Court
in Abuja.
He
spoke on Monday in Calabar against the backdrop of a court summons requesting
that he should produce Taylor to answer charges brought against him by two
Nigerians who were amputated in Sierra Leone.
He
stated that if Taylor is needed the court knows where and how to get him, but insisted that he has not been
served with the summons.
His
words: “On Mr. Taylor, I have not been served anything and I don’t
see why they need to serve me to get to Mr. Taylor. He is residing in Nigeria.
If they need him they can serve him, but they don’t need to route it
through me. I am not a conduit to Mr. Taylor. As far as I am concerned no such
thing has been served on me yet”.
The
governor, who made the remarks during a parley with newsmen, also used the
forum to dispel reports that he is on the run, having abandoned his duty post.
Speculations
have been rife that Duke absconded due to the ongoing case against his election
at the tribunal, brought against him, the Independent Electoral Commission
(INEC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), among others.
He
said it is unfortunate that the public could be deceived into believing such
untrue stories by his political detractors, saying he is currently on a
one-month vacation.
Said
he: “Well, I have come back from running away. I hear everything they say
about me. I can understand my opponents making comments, but what I find
baffling is how gullible the public is”.
And
again it is all part of the trade. But you know I am on vacation. I have one
month straight vacation. But I have to break it because I cannot go about it at
once. I am moving on Wednesday to continue my vacation”.
On
the struggle over the ownership of Calabar between the Efik, Efut and the Qua,
Duke charged the belligerents to sheath their swords, stressing that all lands
belong to the government.
