Foremost rights activist and lawyer, Ledum Mitee, has raised questions over the continued detention of former President Goodluck Jonathan’s cousin, Azibaola Robert, over corruption allegation.
Robert was arrested by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) had on March 23, over a $40 million pipeline security job.
According to a statement signed by Mitee, Robert’s detention “for almost two months without formal charges raises pertinent questions on the right balance to be struck between the desirable war against corruption and the rights of individuals in a democratic setting.”
While stating that the war against corruption has his support and those of most Nigerians, Mitee argued that it should not be done in a manner that sacrifices the sacred constitutional rights of citizens.
The statement added: “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.
“Furthermore, 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.
“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.
“In most jurisdictions, what the arresting authority or even the press does, in similar situations, is to merely release details of the allegations without necessarily the identity of the suspect. I urge the press to also exercise self restraint in these matters so as not to unnecessarily demonise citizens who may not eventually be changed or found guilty of the offences alleged against them.
“It is Azibaola Robert and others like him today but it could be anybody tomorrow.”
