Sunday, November 13

FG should release Dasuki on bail –Falana

Rights activist and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Femi Falana,
has advised the Federal Government to release former National Security Adviser (NSA), Col. Sambo Dasuki (retd) on bail.

The former NSA has been standing trial  and in detention, over alleged diversion of funds meant for procurement of arms and ammunition to fight insurgency in the North East into the presidential campaign of the PDP presidential candidate in the 2015 general elections, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan.
Dasuki was granted bail on December 29, 2015, after he was picked up in October, last year and has been in the custody of the Department of State Services (DSS) since then.
Few months ago, the Court of Justice of the Economic Community of West African States, known as ECOWAS Court frowned at his detention and directed the federal government to comply with an earlier judgment of its own court and awarded  him N15 million damages as reparation for the infringement of his human rights.
Yesterday, Falana, in a statement, urged the federal government to comply with the ECOWAS court judgment and noted that failure to release the former NSA on bail has given him the window to frustrate his trial.
“As a leading member state of ECOWAS, the Nigerian government must continue to demonstrate leadership by example. More so that it was federal government which  persuaded  former military dictators in Niger Republic to  release ex-President Mammoud Tandja from custody, in line with the order of the ECOWAS court.
“Therefore, President Muhammadu Buhari should direct the DSS to comply with the order of the ECOWAS court by releasing  Dasuki on bail, without any further delay.
“Having failed to halt the violations of the rights  of the Nigerian people, the United States Government has banned the Buhari administration from purchasing war planes to prosecute the war on terror. A similar ban under the Jonathan administration prolonged the war on terror. While the ban may be questioned in view of the global fight against terrorism the federal government should release all political detainees from custody and stop the police and other security agencies from  infringing on the  human rights of the Nigerian people.’’

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