Falana asks DSS to immediately release embattled EFCC chairman Bawa, gives reason

The Department of State Services (DSS) has been urged by human rights attorney, Femi Falana, SAN, to immediately free Mr. Abdulrasheed Bawa, the suspended chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), from unlawful custody.

He claims that a remand order issued by a magistrate court in the Federal Capital Territory “has become spent, invalid, and illegal as no magistrate has the power under section 493 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, 2015 or section 35 of the Constitution of Nigeria to authorise the detention of a criminal suspect for 67 days without trial.”

Falana also requested that the Federal Government make sure that the rights of Bawa and Godwin Emefiele, the Central Bank of Nigeria’s suspended governors, are respected by the DSS and the Federal Ministry of Justice’s office of the Director of Public Prosecution, even though the two individuals are known for frequently disobeying court orders while in office.

“The Federal Government should ensure that the rights of Messrs Emefiele and Bawa are respected by the State Security Service and the office of the Director of Public Prosecution in the Federal Ministry of Justice, even though the duo had a penchant for disobeying the orders of the courts, when they were in office,” statement by Falana read.

“…the plight of both suspects should be a lesson for all public officers in Nigeria who always behave as if there will be no tomorrow. However, the Government which rules by law is under a legal obligation not to breach the fundamental rights of citizens except in a manner prescribed by the Constitution of Nigeria,” it added.