Falana demands immediate release of Bawa
A human rights lawyer, Femi Falana, has again demanded the release of the suspended Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Abdulrasheed Bawa.
Mr Falana, who made the request in a statement on Sunday, noted that Mr Bawa’s remand order has since expired.
According to him, the State Security Service, SSS, has no legal grounds to keep the former anti graft czar, having spent 67 days in detention without any charges or trial.
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Mr Falana, therefore, stressed that Mr Bawa’s continued detention is against the provisions of section 493 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act [ACJA] 2015, or Section 35 of the Constitution of Nigeria.
The statement partly read: “In view of the fact that Mr. Abdulrasheed Bawa has not been charged with any criminal offence whatsoever, the State Security Service ought to have released him from custody.
“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.”
