Tayo Oyetibo, senior advocate of Nigeria (SAN), says the
detention of Ibrahim Magu, suspended acting chairman of the Economic and
Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), is in violation of his rights.
Magu is being probed over allegations of corruption by a panel
set up by President Muhammadu Buhari.
He was arrested last Monday and has been in detention since
then.
Oluwatosin Ojaomo, Magu’s lawyer, had written to Mohammed
Adamu, inspector-general of police (IGP), seeking bail for his client on
self-recognition.
But the former EFCC boss is yet to be granted bail.
In a statement on Sunday, Oyetibo said though the
allegations against Magu border on serious economic crime, he has not lost his
fundamental rights as enshrined in section 33 of the Nigerian constitution.
“Although the allegations made against Magu are said to be
documented and border on serious economic crimes and abuse of office, that does
not mean that he has lost his constitutional rights,” he said.
“Amidst the cacophony of allegations of serious crimes made
against Magu, the law of Nigeria still speaks the same language which is
expressed in section 35 of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria
which provides to the effect that every person who is arrested or detained upon
reasonable suspicion of his having committed a criminal offence shall be
brought before a court of law within a period of 24 hours in the case of an
arrest in a place where there is a court of competent jurisdiction within a
radius of 40 kilometres otherwise he ought to be released on bail.
“It cannot be said that there is no court of competent
jurisdiction within a radius of 40 kilometres with Abuja where Magu was
arrested.
“While it may be argued that the EFCC which Magu hitherto
headed was notorious for ignoring this constitutional provision in relation to
citizens who were arrested under him, the law of karma has no place under our
constitutionalism.
“For these reasons, Magu ought to be released on bail
forthwith as otherwise, the government would be acting excessively in breach of
his rights.”
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