An Accra High Court is scheduled to hear a writ of habeas corpus on Monday, January 12, against the Director-General of the National Intelligence Bureau and the Minister of the Interior.

The application seeks an order compelling the two respondents to produce Alhaji Seidu Abagri, a rival chief in Bawku, before the court and to justify the reasons for his continued detention.

The respondents are also required to show the reason why the applicant should not be released from custody.

Alhaji Abagri was selected by the Nayiri, Overlord of the Mamprugu Kingdom, as the Chief of Bawku, but a subsequent mediation report directed that he be removed from Bawku and reassigned by the Nayiri or remain in the area as an ordinary person.

The applicant contended that on December 24, 2025, Alhaji Abagri was forcibly and unlawfully arrested from his residence in Bawku in the Upper East Region by personnel of the Ghana Armed Forces.

He said he had since been held in the custody of the National Intelligence Bureau (NIB) for six days, during which efforts to ascertain his whereabouts and ensure access to legal representation had proved unsuccessful.

According to the application, officers of the NIB had on December 6, 2025, “surreptitiously” gone to the Adenta Circuit Court to obtain an ex parte order to detain him without notifying his lawyers or family members.

It was argued that 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.

The applicant further held that Alhaji Abagri’s continued detention exceeded the constitutional 48-hour requirement for producing a detainee before a court.

When the matter was called before the High Court on Thursday, the presiding judge said she required time to study the application, explaining that she had been alerted to the case while engaged in additional judicial duties elsewhere.

Counsel for the applicant, Mr. Martin Kpebu, agreed to the request but drew the court’s attention to Supreme Court decisions permitting courts to sit on weekends or public holidays in urgent matters.

Mr. Kpebu said his client had been denied access to both lawyers and family members, adding that the situation amounted to mental torture.

He said the applicant’s son, Baba Seidu Abdulai, had been granted only limited access to his father.