By Seyi Babalola
Human rights lawyer Femi Falana has called for the release of Abdulrasheed Bawa, the jailed head of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
According to reports, Bawa is now in the custody of the Department of State Services (DSS) in Abuja.
Bawa, who has been in DSS custody for 67 days since June 14, 2023, is being investigated for possible financial irregularities.
However, Falana, in a statement issued on Sunday in Lagos, said the remand order for Bawa has expired, insisting the DSS has no legal grounds to continue to detain him.
The statement partly reads: “In view of the fact that Mr. Abdulrasheed Bawa has not been charged with any criminal offence whatsoever, the State Security Service ought to have released him from custody. I am not unaware of the claim that Mr. Bawa is being detained on the basis of a remand order issued by a Magistrate Court in the Federal Capital Territory.
“It ought to be pointed out that the remand order has become spent, invalid, and illegal as no magistrate has the power under Section 493 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, 2015, or Section 35 of the Constitution of Nigeria to authorise the detention of a criminal suspect for 67 days without trial.”