Femi Falana, a human rights lawyer,has urged the Department of State Services to quicken the investigation into the allegations against Godwin Emefiele, the former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, and Abdulrasheed Bawa, the chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission who is currently on suspension.
On June 10, Emefiele was detained by DSS agents on suspicion of financing terrorism, while Bawa was taken into custody on suspicion of abuse of authority.
On Friday night, Falana made the declaration while participating in Politics Today on Channels TV.
He said, “Under the administration of Criminal Justice Act if you’re going to detain a Nigerian beyond 24 hours in places where there are no courts within a radius of 40km{like Lagos and Abuja), you’re required to approach a Magistrate court to ask for a remand order to allow for investigation.”
Falana said that even if the DSS has obtained a court order to detain Emefiele and Bawa, the order cannot last for long.
The Senior Advocate of Nigeria urged the Nigerian government to handle the cases in line with the provisions of the law to avoid a situation whereby loopholes are exploited.
“As far as I’m concerned, investigations should be speedily conducted, more so where allegations are made. I do not expect any delay in the investigation of the very serious allegation that has been made,” he mentioned.
“In the case of Emefiele, the State Security Services last year alleged his involvement in terrorism financing. Please, quickly do something about that. With respect to money laundering and other offences, take them to the appropriate agencies of the government.
“In the case of Mr Bawa, we haven’t been told the offences he committed. I cannot speak very confidently with respect to the gentleman except to ask the government or the agencies involved to speed up an investigation and have them arraigned if they are indicted.”
The SAN stressed that if the appropriate legal procedures aren’t met to keep them in detention, the duo should be granted bail.
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