Human Right Activist and Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Mr. Femi Falana has demanded for immediate release of the Economic Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) Chairman Abdulrasheed Bawa from the Department of State Services (DSS) cell after 56days detention.
Barrister Falana insisted that the federal government should either charge Bawa to a court of competent jurisdiction or release him if they have no evidence against him.
The Human Right Lawyer said the remand order issued by a Magistrate Court to detain Bawa has expired and is invalid after 56days of Incarceration in DSS cell.
According to Falana, Bawa should be released from the custody of the Department of State Services (DSS) if there’s no substantial evidence of his involvement in criminal activities.
Making the demand last week in a statement titled, “Release Abdulrasheed Bawa from custody as his remains order has expired”, Falana said “I am not unaware of the claim that Mr. Bawa is being detained on the basis of a remand order issued by a Magistrate Court in the Federal Capital Territory”.
“It ought to be pointed out that the remand order 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”, he noted.
Falana argued that Bawa has been detained above 56 days, which is the cumulative lifespan of a remand.
“Indeed, under the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, the cumulative lifespan of a remand order is 56 days.
“Therefore, having exceeded the detention period permitted by the Administration of Criminal Justice Act and the Constitution of Nigeria, the State Security Service should be directed to release Mr. Abdulrasheed Bawa from illegal custody without any further delay.”
It would be recalled that the suspended chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Abdulrasheed Bawa, is still in the custody of the Department of State Services (DSS), after one week when he was suspended by President Bola Tinubu.
