Human rights lawyer, Femi Falana, has urged President Muhammadu Buhari to put an end to continued “indiscriminate illegal arrests and detention” of some Nigerian citizens as well as foreigners by the State Security Service.
In a letter to Mr. Buhari on Tuesday, Mr. Falana said the development has left unfulfilled, the president’s pledge to run a responsible and accountable governance at all levels of government.
“Owing to the failure of the federal government to call the leadership of the security agency to order, the misleading impression has been created that Your Excellency’s administration does not have respect for the fundamental rights of the Nigerian people,” said Mr. Falana, a senior advocate of Nigeria.
“The incessant disobedience of court orders by the DSS has questioned the commitment of the administration to operate under the Rule of Law. At the recently concluded annual conference of Nigerian Judges which held in Abuja, the Chief Justice of Nigeria, the Honourable Justice Walter Onnoghen was compelled to condemn official disregard for court rulings and orders.”
Since Mr. Buhari’s assumption of office in 2015, at least four notable persons have remained in SSS detention despite repeated court rulings granting them bail.
Sambo Dasuki, a retired colonel and former National Security Adviser, NSA was arrested and charged with money laundering at the Federal High Court by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC in 2015.
He was also charged with illegal possession of firearms at the Federal Capital Territory High Court by the SSS.
Although both courts had admitted the defendant to bail and he had met the conditions, the SSS continues to keep Mr. Dasuki in custody. The order of the Court of Justice of the Economic Community of West African States directing the federal government of Nigeria to release the defendant from further custody has also been ignored by the SSS.
Ibraheem El-Zakzaky, the leader of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria, IMN and his wife, Zainab, were also arrested in December 2015 after the military invasion and destruction of their home in Zaria, Kaduna State.
The invasion followed a deadly clash between Mr. Elzakzaky’s Shi’ite group and Nigerian soldiers, which left over 300 members of the group, including the leader’s three children, dead.
