High Court drops Habeas corpus bid in Abagre’s detention Case

An Accra High Court has dismissed a habeas corpus application filed for Alhaji Seidu Abagre after the Attorney-General submitted a report ordered by the court, bringing the legal challenge to an end.

The application was withdrawn by Abagre’s legal team after they informed the court that intervening developments had placed the matter within the regular criminal justice process.

The case was heard last Monday before Justice Halimah El-Alawa Abdul-Baasit.

Lawyer for the applicant, Martin Kpebu, told the court that the Attorney-General had complied with an earlier directive to explain the circumstances surrounding Abagre’s arrest and detention in relation to the Bawku chieftaincy dispute.

He said a review of the report, coupled with subsequent events, made it unnecessary for the court to proceed with the habeas corpus request.

According to counsel, Abagre has since been formally charged and appeared before a court over criminal matters linked to the same dispute, effectively regularising his detention.

With the applicant now subject to ongoing criminal proceedings, the relief sought—aimed at testing the legality of his custody—was no longer relevant.

The Deputy Attorney-General raised no opposition to the withdrawal, and the court accordingly struck out the application.

Abagre, a retired educationist and claimant in the Bawku chieftaincy dispute, was escorted out of Bawku on December 24, 2025, by the Ghana Armed Forces as part of steps to enforce mediation outcomes brokered by the Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II.

Those recommendations reaffirmed Naba Asigri Abugrago Azoka II as the legitimate Bawku Naba and proposed that Abagre either assume a different traditional role or remain in Bawku strictly as a private citizen.

Following his relocation, Abagre was taken into custody by the National Intelligence Bureau, leading his lawyers to initiate habeas corpus proceedings on January 5, 2026, citing concerns over the legality of his detention and access to legal representation.