North West group condemns continued detention of Bawa without trial

North West Alliance for Citizens Freedom (NWCF) has criticized the Department of Security Service (DSS) for keeping the former Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) Abdulrasheed Bawa in detention since he was suspended from office.

Recalled that Bawa was arrested by the DSS immediately President Bola Tinubu suspended him from office.

The President General of NWCF Lawal Ibrahim Jamaare in a statement on Tuesday, said that Bawa has spent 33 days in the custody of the Department of State Services since he was suspended on June 14.

He expressed concern that the DSS has kept silent on the specific offences for which he was arrested, the level of investigation, and whether charges would be filed against him in court.

“We are deeply concerned and agitated that this, and similar unlawful detentions and abuses by the DSS continue with impunity, despite Nigeria’s Constitution and other domestic laws prohibiting and criminalizing such acts.

“The detention of Bawa in particular, with his actual whereabouts still unknown, leaving his family to continue to search for answers,   amounts to a violation of Nigeria’s binding obligations in the Geneva Convention’s human and Peoples  rights charter, as well as regional and international human rights and criminal law instruments that prohibit arbitrary arrest and unlawful detention”, the statement said.

The group said it observed that the continued detention of Bawa by the DSS for over three weeks, is unconstitutional and a breach of his fundamental rights under the 1999 Constitution and other relevant laws that guarantee personal liberty and provide that an arrested or detained person should be held in a place authorized by law. 

The group further stated that the Nigerian constitution requires that detainees be brought to court within 48 hours of their arrest, allowed to have their families informed of their detention, and are allowed reasonable access to their families, lawyers, and medical treatment. 

“The prolonged detention of Abdurasheed Bawa, without access to counsel  and his family constitutes a clear violation of international human rights norms, which prohibit arbitrary or unlawful detention”, the group said.

In its resolution and demand NWCF condemned the unlawful arrest and detention of Abdurasheed Bawa, and calls on Nigerian Government to uphold its human rights obligations.

“We wish to remind President Bola Ahmed Tinubu of his human rights obligations and commitments, and to call on him to continue taking steps towards upholding democratic values in Nigeria.

“NWCF calls on the President to compel the DSS to immediately release Abdurasheed Bawa and all those detained in similar circumstances or to charge them with an internationally recognised offence, and to ensure their physical and psychological integrity in custody.

“The Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions and the NHRC should investigate Abdulrasheed Bawa’s as well as all credible allegations involving unlawful detention, and those identified as responsible should be prosecuted in fair trials. 

“The government should also ensure victims have access to remedies including compensation as well as medical and psychological care”, the statement added.