Femi Falana, human rights lawyer,
has accused the Nigerian navy of flouting the order of President Muhammadu
Buhari to release the 40 Nigerians “illegally detained” by the force.
Falana had earlier urged the
president to order the release of 40 Nigerians who have been in “illegal
custody” of the navy.
But in a letter written to the
National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) on Saturday, Falana said Buhari had
ordered the naval authorities to either release the detainees or arraign them
but alleged that the force refused to heed the president’s order.
He alleged that in a bid to
deceive the president, the navy gave a “false impression” that it had
transferred the detainees to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission
(EFCC) for the purpose of charging them with criminal offences.
“We have confirmed that sequel to
our petition to President Muhammadu Buhari and the National Human Rights
Commission over the prolonged detention of 40 Nigerian citizens without trial,
the Presidency promptly directed the authorities of the Nigerian Navy to either
release the detainees or arraign them in appropriate courts,” the letter read.
“But in a desperate bid to
deceive the presidency, the naval authorities gave the false impression that
the detainees had been transferred to the Economic and Financial Crimes
Commission (EFCC) for the purpose of charging them with criminal offences at
the Federal High Court.
“Specifically, on May 23, 2019,
the Nigerian Navy paraded 32 detainees before the media and announced that they
had been transferred to the EFCC office in Abuja. Barely 24 hours later, the
Nigerian Navy claimed to have transferred another group of 8 detainees to the
EFCC at Warri, Delta State.
“It may interest you to know that
the 40 suspects purportedly handed over to the EFCC are not among the 40
detainees named in our petition under reference.
“Thus, the Nigerian Navy has
confirmed that not less than 80 citizens have been held incommunicado in
undisclosed military detention facilities for several months without trial. In
any case, the Nigerian Navy has not handed over the 40 suspects to the EFCC.
“In fact, the Naval authorities
have since disclosed that the detainees have not been handed over to the EFCC
contrary to the clear directive of the Presidency.”
Describing the action of the
naval authorities as “provocative impunity”, Falana quoted Beegroy Ibe-Ekwo,
chief of policy and plans, naval headquarters, as saying the detainees would
not be released from “illegal custody.”
The human rights lawyer urged
Buhari to call Ibe-Ekwe to order for “making a mockery of the directive of the
presidency”.
As a deterrent to other public
officers, he also asked the commission to recommend the sanctioning of Ibok-Ete
Ibas, chief of naval staff, to the president for gross infringement of human
rights of the detainees.
Click to signup for FREE news updates, latest information and hottest gists everyday
Advertise on NigerianEye.com to reach thousands of our daily users
No comments
Post a Comment
Kindly drop a comment below.
(Comments are moderated. Clean comments will be approved immediately)
Advert Enquires - Reach out to us at NigerianEye@gmail.com