Speed Up Emefiele, Bawa Probe – Falana Urges DSS

Femi Falana, a human rights attorney, has encouraged the Department of State Services to expedite the investigation into the charges involving Abdulrasheed Bawa, the chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, who has been placed on administrative leave, and Godwin Emefiele, the former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria.

Emefiele was detained on June 10 by DSS agents on suspicion of financing terrorism, while Bawa was detained on suspicion of abuse of power.

Falana made the call while featuring on Channels TV’s Politics Today programme on Friday night.

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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 asserted that the DSS’s court-issued detention orders for Emefiele and Bawa are only temporary in nature.

The Senior Advocate of Nigeria encouraged the Nigerian government to handle the cases in accordance with the law’s requirements to prevent a scenario where loopholes are abused.

“In my opinion, investigations should be opened as soon as possible, especially when allegations are made. I don’t anticipate there would be a delay in the inquiry into the extremely severe charge that has been made, he said.

“The State Security Services claimed last year that Emefiele was involved in financing terrorism in the case at hand. Please act swiftly to address that. Take them to the proper government agencies with regard to money laundering and other offenses.

“We have not been informed of the offenses Mr. Bawa committed. I can’t comment with much confidence regarding the gentleman, but I will ask the government or the relevant agencies to expedite the inquiry and have them brought to court if they are charged.”

The SAN emphasized that the two should be given bail if the necessary legal requirements aren’t fulfilled to keep them in jail.