Prominent activist and lawyer, Ledum Mitee, has tackled President Muhammadu Buhari, over the Federal Government’s anti-corruption drive, saying suspects are being convicted before they are charged to court.
Mr. Mitee, who made his feelings known to PREMIUM TIMES on Wednesday, however, said he was not averse to the government’s war against corruption.
Irrespective of the desirability of the anti-corruption fight, he argued that the rights of the people and the rule of law should be respected.
“It seems to me that the letter and spirit of the constitution leans towards investigations before the arrest of a citizen and not arrest of a citizen for purposes of further investigation,” Mr. Mitee said.
“The other troubling question, in my humble view, is the propriety of the penchant of releasing and publishing of snippets of allegations against citizens who have not been charged with offences.”
“Where the rule of law reigns, all citizens are presumed innocent until proved guilty before a court of competent jurisdiction.
“To detain a citizen and release and publish snippets of unproven allegations against him with a view to demonising him amounts in my view, to trying and convicting him in the court of public opinion, even before or even without charging him before a court of competent jurisdiction.”
Mr. Mitee drew attention to the continued detention Azibaola Robert, a former aide to former President Goodluck Jonathan, saying Robert is “a metaphor for others like him.”
He argued that detaining the suspect for two months without formal charges being filed against him raises pertinent questions on the integrity of the government.
The activist, therefore, called on the government to strike a balance between the desirable war against corruption and the rights of individuals in a democratic setting.
“For the avoidance of doubts and honest misinterpretation, we need to state here from the onset that the war against corruption undoubtedly has my support and those of most Nigerians,” he argued.
“But as desirable as the anti corruption fight is, it should not be done in a manner that sacrifices the sacred constitutional rights of citizens. To hold a citizen, as the EFCC has done in Azibaola’s case, without formal charges is undoubtedly unconstitutional.
“To make matters worse, the detention is said to have been effected in spite of an order of the Abuja High court ordering his release on bail.
“To forum shop by transferring him from the jurisdiction of the Abuja High court to Lagos in order to secure a detention order leaves a frightening feeling in the minds of lovers of justice.”
In most jurisdictions, he said what the arresting authority or even the press does, is to merely release details of the allegations without necessarily the identity of the suspect.
He appealed to the government and the press to exercise restraint so as not to unnecessarily demonise citizens, who may not eventually be charged or found guilty of the offences alleged against them.
“It is Azibaola Robert and others like him today but it could be anybody tomorrow,” he said.
Mr. Robert, a relation to former President Goodluck Jonathan, was picked up by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission on March 23 on allegations of graft.
When the anti-graft agency failed to bring charges against him, his wife, Faith petitioned the House of Representatives to wade into the matter.
She said the EFCC was illegally detaining her husband and called on the Speaker, Yakubu Dogara, to intervene and safeguard the rights of her husband.
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