The Sultan Ibrahim Dasuki
Progressive Association (SIDPA), comprising family members, friends and
associates of the late Sultan of Sokoto, Ibrahim Dasuki, has requested the
Buhari government to respect the rule of law by releasing former National
Security Adviser (NSA), Col. Sambo Dasuki (rtd).
This is contained in a statement
read at the NUJ Press Centre in Sokoto on Friday by Comrade Kabir T.
Auwal, SIPDA Secretary General.
The family spoke in commemoration
of Dasuki’s two years of incarceration by the Nigerian government.
They lamented that it was
unfortunate that even Nnamdi Kanu, the leader of Biafra group, IPOB, who was in
government custody for treason, was released on bail despite drumming the beat
of war and insistence of Nigeria’s split.
The statement recalled that
Dasuki has been arraigned before four federal courts which granted him bail,
while the ECOWAS court, a sub-regional court not only ordered that the FG
release him immediately but also order his compensation to the tune of N15
million.
”The agents of the Federal
Government, especially Department of State Service (DSS) and the Economic and
Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) have refused to obey any of the court
orders,” it continued.
“Meanwhile, just recently, the
DSS had prevented the EFCC from arresting or interrogating the former DG of DSS
Ita Ekpeyong by relying on the provision of a proclamation approved by General
Abubakar Abdulsalam in 1999. The edict, titled ‘Instrument No 1 of 1999’,
shields Security agencies from external audit and investigation of their
financial dealings, making them subject to only presidential review. Why is
this not applied to Sambo Dasuki’s who supervised and coordinated activities of
the intelligence services when the instrument has not been nullified or
replaced by a National Assembly-enacted Act?
In addition, just recently too,
while receiving a report on National Intelligence Agency (NIA) over Osborne
Tower Scandal from Ambassador Babagana Kingibe, President Buhari in a statement
by his spokesperson, Femi Adesina, said the scandal “must be understood that
this (investigation) cannot be done in a manner that jeopardises national
security or exposes the operations of any intelligence Agency, which must, by
nature be conducted in secrecy.” Why is this not applicable to Sambo Dasuki who
supervised those agencies during his tenure?
We and other members of his
family have deliberately remained silence on his ordeals and persecution,
hoping in a democratic government, rule of law would be adhered to. But
surprisingly in over two years that Sambo Dasuki has been unlawfully and
illegal detained without any court order or warrant, he has been subjected to
media trial, scandalized, criminalized, insulted and humiliated not through any
court of justice but from the propaganda of the current administration through
media trials of falsehood.
It is on record that Sambo Dasuki
served this nation meritoriously in various capacities before his appointment
as the National Security Adviser by the previous administration. It is public
knowledge that Dasuki had served previous administration of General Muhammadu
Buhari and General Ibrahim Babangida but was against dictatorial regime of
General Sani Abacha, before he sought asylum outside the country where he
teamed up with other Nigerians in the Diaspora to campaign against that
military dictatorship and entrenchment of democracy.
On the return to democracy, he
remained abroad until the administration of President Olusegun Obasanjo invited
to serve as Managing Director of Nigeria Security Printing and Minting Company.
He disengaged honourably after serving meritoriously to continue his business
abroad before he was invited by President Goodluck Jonathan to serve as the
National Security Adviser (NSA). Dasuki was appointed as NSA when Boko Haram
was at its peak.
It is on record that he recovered
more than 24 towns from Boko Haram before the coming of the current
administration and ensured that security strategies put in place facilitated
the conduct of peaceful elections in 2015 across the country, including in the
Northeast states without disruption by Boko Haram terrorism. In one of his
official statement he had provided lists and proof of huge military equipment
bought to prosecute the war on terror and how they engaged Nigeria’s neighbours
to join in the efforts. Yet, the current government doesn’t want the truth to
be told.
In spite of Dasuki’s contribution
in taming insecurity in the country, he has been the most maligned public
officer through naked falsehood and mischievous information leakages that tend
to portray him as a corrupt person. Suffice to say that Dasuki has served the
nation with best of intentions yet he remains the only public officer that has
remained in detention in the last two years; the only officer that has been
granted bail by four courts.
The FG’s sheer disregard for the
rule of law in the last two years, especially as it affects Sambo Dasuki’s
incarceration has become worrisome to Dasuki family even when we lost our
Father Sultan Dasuki. No nation develops in the absence of rule of law, in
which case her extant laws and judicial structures are respected devoid of
sentimentality and grudging impunity.
We are all living witnesses to
the fact that some suspects on grievous charges of treasonable offence were
released by this same government after clamour and outburst by their people. In
Dasuki’s case whose offences are all bailable and granted by the court, he was
not allowed to enjoy his bail. The disregard by the government agencies of
these orders could not be without the express approval of President Buhari
which is most painful and to his in-law. The judiciary should be encouraged to
have the courage to exercise its powers without undue interference by the
executive arm.
Since we are not in a military
junta but a democracy, Nigeria’s constitution should not be turned to Military
decrees with which rights of citizens are trampled upon without question. We
strongly call on the Federal Government to respect rule of law and allow Sambo
Dasuki to enjoy his bails, except if the intention of government is to kill him
in detention.
We therefore call on the Federal
Government to release Dasuki on bail in compliance with the rulings of our
competent courts while it continues with the cases in open court rather than in
secret or media trial.”
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