Bawa: Don’t infringe on detainees’ rights, Ajulo tells DSS

Renowned Constitutional Lawyer, Dr Kayode Ajulo OON, has urged the Department of State Services (DSS) to respect the rule of law in pursuing the case against the suspended Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFFC), Abdulrasheed Bawa, and others.

Ajulo, in a statement, urged the DSS not to infringe on the fundamental rights of Bawa and others in its custody.

The lawyer, who said it is unlawful to keep Bawa in detention longer than what the law stipulates, urged President Bola Tinubu to caution the DSS concerning the matter and ensure that the rule of law prevails.

Ajulo counselled that one of the fundamental ills of the Muhamamdu Buhari-led administration was its failure to comply with the provisions of the Constitution regarding issues of unlawful detention.

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“Consequently, in impartial governance according to the constitution and rule of law, issues of rights of individuals and citizens should be paramount and all measures, actions and procedures to correct aberrant personnel should be done by the provisions of the law and nothing below such standard counts as same contradicts the principles with which your administration sets out to govern the nation,” the right activist noted.

Ajulo, who noted that he is neither a friend nor a fan of the embattled former Chairman and his administration but a campaigner of the rule of law, stressed that the continuous detention of Bawa upon his arrest by the State Security Services remains unlawful, bizarre and a breach of his Right to Personal Liberty as provided for by the Constitution.

“If there are doubts, several pronouncements, publications and demonstrations exist in the record of the polity where I have aired my dissent and loud cry as to the defective administration of some agencies of government particularly the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) by its suspended chairman some of which are premised on the unjust treatment of people who go to visit the commission for several purposes as well as the act of fewer regards given by the Commission and its staffs to the accused and legal practitioners,” he added.

He called on the FG to uphold the tenets of the law and properly prosecute the matter for the court to decide and pronounce the suspended EFCC chairman guilty or otherwise of the offence.