The federal government has not acted against the law by detaining beyond 48 hours persons indicted of mismanaging security funds.
A Senior Advocate of Nigerian, Mr Femi Falana, has reportedly defended the Federal Government over the ongoing probe into the arms
procurement involving the former National Security Adviser (NSA), Sambo Dasuki.
Premium Times reports that the senior lawyer on Sunday, December 6, said the FG has not acted against the law by detaining beyond 48 hours the people involved in the misappropriation of the country’s security funds.
Falana who made this known in a statement was quoted to have noted that the federal government had so far handled the investigation within the ambit of the law.
Opposing the allegation raised by some legal practitioners and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) that the FG is acting with impunity by detaining some suspects beyond 48 hours, he insisted that the fundamental human rights of the suspects have not been violated in any way.
Recall that the immediate past NSA under president Goodluck Jonathan, Sambo Dasuki; Sokoto state former governor, Attahiru Bafarawa; Raymond Dokpesi, the founder of DAAR Communications PLC as well as a former chairman of the defunct Presidential Implementation Committee on Marine Safety (PICOMMS), Salihu Atawodi have been grilled for their involvement in the misuse of billions of funds earmarked for the procurement of arms to combat the security challenges facing the country.
The aforementioned accused persons have been detained for more than 48 hours by the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) as against the law of the land.
According to the legal practitioner, the complaints of the accused persons that their rights have been trampled upon are simply excuse to divert the attention of Nigerians from “the grave allegations” of recklessly diverting public funds meant for arms procurement.
“The suspects’ arrest and continued detention was in line with section 293 – 299 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, 2015 (ACJA).
“The attention of the ‘critics’ ought to be drawn to sections 293-299 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, 2015 (ACJA) which stipulate that a suspect arrested for an offence which a magistrate has no jurisdiction to try, shall within a reasonable time, be brought before a magistrate court for remand.
“The order which shall be for a period not exceeding 14 days may be further extended provided that if the investigation is not concluded within 28 days the court may summon the appropriate authority to show cause why the suspect should not be unconditionally released.
“Suspects who are remanded in custody are at liberty to ask for bail or apply to the appropriate high court to secure the enforcement of their fundamental right to personal liberty.
“In view of the clear and unambiguous provisions of the law it is misleading to insist that a magistrate court lacks the power to grant the application filed by the EFCC for the detention of the criminal suspects,” Mr. Falana said.
The legal luminary used the opportunity to call on the FG not to yield to pressure of those that have lost their shame hence would want the accused to go scold free.
“As corruption is already mobilizing to fight back, the Buhari administration should ignore the reckless campaign of calumny of certain people who have lost their sense of shame. As far as they are concerned the suspects should be left alone to enjoy their loot while soldiers are losing their precious lives due to lack of adequate weapons.
“The federal government should ensure that all individuals and corporate bodies indicted in the criminal diversion of public funds are made to face the full wrath of the law.
“The anti-graft agencies should disregard the cheap blackmail, speed up the investigation and charge all indicted suspects to court while the courts are enjoined to conduct the trial of the suspects under the ACJA which requires that the trials be conducted day by day,” he said.
Mr. Falana advised the government to open an account where the recovered money from the suspects would be deposited and used to purchase arms for the military as well as crate jobs for the unemployed youths. He said the loot can also be used to build and resuscitate dilapidated public infrastructure.
He said the fund allegedly misused was not $2.1 billion as widely reported by various medium. He said it was $2.1 billion plus N643 billion, which bring the total fund to $6 billion.
“The actual amount stolen is $2.1 billion and N643 billion. The total missing fund is $6 billion,” the lawyer said.
The SAN who was the counsel representing some soldiers that were sentenced to death for refusing to fight terrorists following inadequate equipment stated that it is high time the FG release the condemned soldiers considering how the funds meant for arms purchase were spent.
“In the light of the earth-shaking and ear-aching revelations oozing out of the EFCC to the effect that a handful of individuals cornered and shared the huge fund earmarked for the procurement of military hardware to prosecute the war on terror, all the convicted military officers and soldiers who have been convicted including the 70 who were sentenced to death should be released forthwith.
“As I have repeatedly maintained the soldiers were committed and sentenced to death for asking for weapons to fight the terrorists. They were ordered to fight with unserviceable equipment on the ground that there was no money to purchase new weapons. In the process, the well-equipped insurgents routed and massacred thousands of the country’s ill-equipped soldiers due to the diversion of the fund set aside to purchase equipment.
“The suspects must bear full responsibility for committing such grave crimes against humanity.
“Consequently, pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act, 2011 we have applied for a certified true copy of the report of the arms procurement panel with a view to ensuring that some of the suspects are prosecuted by the Special Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity,” Falana said.
Source:naij news
