Abuja – Former President of the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People, MOSOP, Mr. Ledum Mitee, has condemned the continued incarceration of former President Goodluck Jonathan’s cousin, Robert Azibaola, by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission without trial. Mitee in a statement in Abuja, Wednesday, also queried the defiance of a valid court order by the EFCC to release Azibaola or bring him to court despite a valid warrant order by a judge. The human rights lawyer and member of the National Political Conference, said that while he was in support of the anti-corruption drive of the present administration, it must however be conducted within the ambit of the law so as not to violate the rights of innocent Nigerians.
Ledum Mitee Mitee said: “The continued detention of Mr Azibaola Robert, as a metaphor for others like him, 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. “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. “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.
“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 demonizing 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 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,” Mitee said.
Read more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/05/ledum-mittee-condemns-jonathans-cousins-detention/
