ORDEAL OF EMBATTLED CANCER PATIENT
Akinyemi
But for the timely intervention of a Federal High Court sitting in Lagos, a detainee, Sunday Akinyemi might have suffered the unfortunate fate that befell a late member of the House of Representatives, Chief Maurice Ibekwe. Ibekwe died in custody few years ago following the refusal of a Lagos State High court where he was standing trial to grant him bail on medical grounds.
Akinyemi, who is facing trial by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFFC) for allegedly defrauding his company, Gulf Coast Marine Nigeria Limited, was diagnosed of cancer of the colon when he took ill in custody. In a trial that has witnessed a lot of drama, Akinyemi, through his counsel, Femi Falana, approached the Federal High Court to get the court's permission to travel abroad to take care of his ailment when the hope of getting a reprieve before the trial judge, Justice E A Adebajo, was lost.
In the application before Justice Muhammed Idris of the Federal High Court, Akinyemi sued the Attorney General of the Federation and the Deputy Comptroller of Prisons. The application was anchored on the need to preserve the sanctity of the right to life as provided for under section 33 of the constitution and the right to the dignity of the human person under section 34 of the same constitution.
In his judgment, Justice Idris distinguished the application before him and the trial at the Lagos High Court, noting that the right to life guaranteed under section 33 of the 1999 constitution is the platform which other rights rest upon.
Besides, Justice Idris took cognizance of the evidence and exhibits adduced by the applicant, including Justice Adebajo's order of March 24, 2011 which expressly permitted the applicant to travel abroad at his own expenses for his treatment and to be reimbursed by the prosecution later. A photocopy of the applicant's passport with British visa, which was to enable him travel for the medical appointment but which was allegedly scuttled by the respondents, was tendered in evidence before the court.
While perusing the application of the applicant, Justice Idris noted that the respondent failed to respond to the application by their failure to file a counter affidavit which he held were deemed admissible in law. 'The failure to file a counter affidavit to material disposition in an affidavit is deemed to amount to an admission,' he held.
Citing judicial precedents to support the granting of the application, the judge held:
'Ironically, the order of the Federal High Court that saved Akinyemi's life seemed to have drawn the ire of the Lagos High Court as Justice Adebajo has not only ordered his counsel (Falana) to produce him at all costs, the judge also threatened to punish the Deputy Comptroller of Prisons for obeying the Federal High Court order.
In an exclusive chat with Daily Sun, the embattled Akinyemi came to the country recently from where he has been undergoing intensive treatment abroad. According to him, his travails started when he had a disagreement with his estranged spouse who was the complainant in the matter that landed him in EFCC net.
He told Daily Sun that he became the Managing Director of Gulf Coast Marine but he used to own a company with his wife.
'I gave her 20% equity share but when this problem started, I gave her everything. I moved on to form another company called Gulf Coast Marine. We do engineering procurement to oil companies' patrol boat services, I also undertake repair of equipment to oil companies. I have a master's degree in Geology with Specialisation in Petroleum Geology. I also have a diploma in Marine Engineering,' he said.
Speaking in a voice that was barely audible which he attributed to the effect of several rounds of chemotherapy treatment that had been administered on him in the foreign hospital, he lamented that the delay he suffered due to the refusal of the trial court to let him travel had aggravated his ailment as the cancer has spread from the colon to the upper abdominal cavity towards the liver.
'The chemotherapy for cancer has to be performed intravenously. They will insert the thing under your skin and attach it into a vein. I have been given 12 courses now. It remains six courses.'According to the results of the various diagnosis carried out, the delay I suffered here because of the court's change of attitude has resulted in the spread of the cancer to my liver from the colon which was initially affected.
And because of this spread, the doctors have recommended laser surgery after I have completed the chemo courses. The laser surgery, according to the doctors, will be able to burn the liver. Once those ones are burnt, then I have to be coming down for medical check-up every three months to assess the progress made from the laser surgery. I must be do this for one year before they will write their final assessment report,' he said.
He lamented that, but for the delays caused by the court's refusal to allow him travel for treatment, the cancer would not have spread as much as it has now. He told Daily Sun that the cost of treating the illness is huge.'I must confess that the Lagos High Court initially ordered that I should be allowed to travel and that the EFCC that was prosecuting should bear the expenses when I was diagnosed of cancer of colon. However, the prosecution and the complainant said I was lying. Unfortunately, the court believed them and that was where my trouble started. First, the judge constituted a medical team to examine my health and report to the court.
'Without the Federal High Court's intervention, only God knows what would have happened. The people here have done what they are supposed to do but they were asking for a particular scan, and we don't have the machine in the country. When I did it over there, it cost about $2,500 dollars to do a scan. It was the scan that showed the extent of the spread.
'Treatment for cancer is very expensive. For example, each time I take six courses of chemo at a stretch, it costs me $40,000 dollars. I am expected to take 18 courses, six at a time. So for the 18 courses all together, it will cost me $120,000 dollars.
'After that, they will perform the laser surgery, which will cost another $25,000 dollars. The one that I did here in Nigeria was for the colon. Unfortunately, the delay I suffered through the court has made the cancer to spread to the liver.
'The complainant and the prosecution ensured that I was delayed for six months. Even when the doctors here recommended that I should be allowed to travel abroad immediately, they still decided to delay me and that was how the cancer spread to the liver from the colon. If we had curtained it when we did the first surgery, I would not have had to go through the liver chemo.
'It was because they delayed and delayed that the thing spread to my liver before the Federal High Court eventually intervened and gave me permission to travel from custody to save my life.'It has cost me a lot. For example, at the military hospital, I spent about N7 million and in the American hospital I have spent about $70,000, though the judge had earlier ordered that the prosecution must pay for my treatment. The court had told them that if they cannot raise the money right away, they should pay me back, if I can bear the expenses. They swore to an affidavit that they can treat me anywhere in the world,' Akinyemi said.
However, he said he is still supposed to be on chemo courses for three months, after which there will be another PET scan to know how much progress the chemo treatment has made. Then, they will go back to surgery. After the surgery, he said he is expected to recuperate within two to three weeks and wait for the reports. He hoped that he should be back in Nigeria between five to six months. Meanwhile, he said he has been communicating with the court through his lawyer and has been sending all the medical reports of weekly scans conducted on him.
'You know I can only do that through my lawyer, Femi Falana. Every week they assess my liver and renal profile and they always issue report, which I send to my lawyer. Before I travelled, the measurement of cancer range in my liver was 51, but when I got to the American hospital and they did the chemo twice, it reduced to 6.5. That is quite an improvement. But I'm still supposed to go below 3.8 before it can be regarded as normal.'