Alhaji Seidu Abagre
A High Court in Accra has ordered the Attorney General (AG) to present a written report justifying the continuous detention of Alhaji Seidu Abagre, a rival Bawku chief who was arrested late last month and has been kept in custody without being put before court.
The court, presided over by Justice Halimah El-Alawa Abdul-Baasit, has given the Attorney General up to January 21, 2026, to file the written report detailing the grounds of the detention.
The court gave the order in an ongoing Habeas Corpus application filed by the family of Alhaji Abagre, who allege that they have being denied access to the detainee.
His lawyers also contend that they have not been allowed to see him despite being detained at the National Intelligence Bureau (NIB) for close to three weeks.
Alhaji Abagre from the Nayiri clan was one of the persons laying claims to the Bawku Chieftaincy until a mediation overseen by the Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, recognised Abugrago Azoka as the undisputed Bawku Naba and Paramount Chief of the Kusasi Traditional Area.
The mediation report directed that Alhaji Abagre be removed from Bawku and reassigned by the Nayiri or remain in the area as an ordinary person.
However, he was ‘forcibly’ and unlawfully arrested from his residence in Bawku in the Upper East Region by personnel of the Ghana Armed Forces, an application before the High Court alleges.
The application contends that officers of the NIB had on December 6, 2025, “surreptitiously” went to the Adenta Circuit Court to obtain an ex parte order to detain Alhaji Abagre without notifying his lawyers or family members.
According to the affidavit in support of the ex parte motion, the applicant was denied the opportunity for legal representation, in violation of Articles 14(2), 14(3) and 15(1) of the 1992 Constitution, which guarantee personal liberty and the right to a fair defence.
It further argues that Alhaji Abagre’s continued detention exceeded the constitutional 48-hour requirement for producing a detainee before a court.
Although the application was filed ex parte, Deputy Attorney General, Dr. Justice Srem-Sai, appeared before the court yesterday, indicating that the Office of the Attorney General decided to be proactive due to the public interest nature of the case, and the greater implications it has on national security.
“The Office of the Attorney General decided to be proactive to intervene so as to ensure speedy resolution of the matter and also to fully protect the human rights of Alhaji Seidu Abagre,” he told the court.
He added that “upon this we decided to, notwithstanding that a formal process had not been served on to appear in court so as to abridge the processes.”
Martin Kpebu, counsel for Alhaji Abagre, did not object to the Attorney General seeking to intervene early so as to abridge the time and the requirement of the service of an order which the court may grant.
“In the circumstances, I believe the law will not be breached if my Lady allows the Attorney General to participate,” he added.
He, however, opposed a prayer by the Deputy Attorney General for the case to be adjourned for two weeks, leading the court to stand the case down on the request of the two lawyers who went out of the courtroom to confer.
When they returned, they agreed for the case to be adjourned, with Mr. Kpebu asking the court to order the Attorney General to bring Alhaji Abagre to court on the next date for the avoidance of doubt.
This request was opposed by Dr. Srem-Sai. It was on the basis of this that Justice Abdul-Baasit ordered the Attorney General to file the report justifying the continuous detention, while adjourning the case to January 26, 2026.
BY Gibril Abdul Razak