The group said this on Tuesday morning on its Twitter handle, asking the government to either release Bawa or arraign him before a competent court of law for his alleged offences.
The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has threatened to sue President Bola Tinubu’s administration over the continued detention of the suspended Economic Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) chairman, Abdulrasheed Bawa by the Department of State Services (DSS) without arraignment for proper charges.
The group said this on Tuesday morning on its Twitter handle, asking the government to either release Bawa or arraign him before a competent court of law for his alleged offences.
The organisation described his prolonged detention as a breach of his right to liberty as guaranteed by the constitution.
It said, “The Tinubu administration must immediately release the suspended chairman of EFCC, Abdulrasheed Bawa from arbitrary detention or charge him with a legally recognizable offence. We’ll see in court if the authorities continue to flagrantly violate his right to liberty.”
Last Friday, human rights activist and candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC) in the 2023 presidential election, Omoyele Sowore also made a similar demand. He said the prolonged detention of Bawa smacked of political persecution.
He described how the DSS operatives were handling Bawa’s case as appearing to be political persecution, adding that President Tinubu should release him without any further delay.
Sowore wrote: “It is now obvious that suspended Chairman Abdulrasheed Bawa of @officialEFCC is now a political detainee, his prolonged detention by the lawless @OfficialDSSNG for such a prolonged period without charges smacks of political persecution. @officialABA must release Bawa without further delay.”
In July, SaharaReporters reported how Bawa was taken from the headquarters of the secret police to a private facility to have total control over him after he refused to write any statements in custody.
SaharaReporters exclusively reported on Wednesday, June 21, 2023, that Bawa had refused to write statements at the secret police’s facility. It was learnt that Bawa told investigators that the DSS had no right to detain him without charges, hence his refusal to write any statements in custody.
“They’ve taken Bawa from DSS headquarters to one of their private facilities to have total control over him after he refused to write statements requested from him,” a top security source had said.
Bawa has been in detention along with Godwin Emefiele, the suspended governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria since their suspension from their respective offices by President Tinubu’s administration over corruption allegations and abuse of office.
