Ekiti State Governor, Mr Ayodele Fayose
has decried the indiscriminate arrest and continued detention of former
Governors of Benue and Niger States, Mr Gabriel Suswan and Dr Babangida Aliyu
as well the National coordinator of Peoples Democratic Party
National Youth Frontier (PDPNYF), Comrade Austin Usman Okai, describing their
continued detention as further demonstration of the All Progressives Congress (APC) government regime of
vindictiveness and disrespect for the laws of Nigeria.
The governor said there was no law
permitting security agents to detain Nigerians indefinitely, adding that; “It
is even more worrisome that former Governor Suswan has been in detention since
February 26 this year and Austin Okai, who was arrested in Abuja last Sunday,
was arraigned in Lokoja Magistrate Court yesterday (Thursday), granted bail and
rearrested at the court premises by the same police that charged him to court.”
In a statement issued in Ado Ekiti on
Friday, and signed by Special Assistant to the governor on Public
Communications and New Media, Lere Olayinka, he lamented that “those holding
power in Abuja have become defiant to reasons, operating as if
they are laws onto themselves.”
The governor noted that; “Arresting
people without proper and thorough investigation is the reason EFCC continues
lose its cases. How can you arrest someone, put him in detention and start
looking for evidence to prosecute him?
He said; “On Wednesday, the Department
of State Services (DSS) came up with the most ridiculous reason for keeping
Suswan in detention since February. The service said it would not release the
former governor because he has failed to cooperate with
investigators. The question is; what cooperation does the DSS need from someone
that will require him being kept in detention for close to two months without
charging
him to court?
“One may also ask; is the DSS also
keeping the head of Nigeria's Islamic Movement (IMN), Ibrahim El-Zakzaky, who
has been in detention since late 2015 despite that the court ruled that he
should be released in custody because he refused to cooperate with investigators?
“Are we back to the era of Decree 2 of
1984 when the National Security Organisation (NSO) had powers to arrest and
detain Nigerians indefinitely?
“Also, for what lawful reason would the
Police charge Austin Okai to court and rearrest him at the court premises after
he was granted bail? Isn’t the brutish use of power by these APC elements
getting too much?”
On the continued detention Dr Babangida
Aliyu, Governor Fayose said; “Investigating allegations of corruption does not
empower the EFCC or any security agency to detain any Nigeria indefinitely
without trial.
“Most importantly, it is assumed that
before anyone can be arrested for alleged corruption, the EFCC ought to have
done its job by gathering necessary facts. This practice of EFCC arresting
Nigerians, detaining them indefinitely so that they can give indicting
evidences against themselves is alien to crime investigation in civilised
world.
“Therefore, if EFCC has any evidence of
corruption against Dr Babangida Aliyu, the commission should simply charge him
to court and use the evidence(s) to prosecute him. In the absence of this, he should
be released forthwith; else one will also believe the insinuation that the EFCC
is holding him (Babangida) as part of the
APC-led Federal Government clampdown on
anyone that is perceived as having presidential ambition in 2019.”
No comments:
Post a Comment