Femi Falana

 

Nigerian Lawyer and popular Lagos human rights activist, Femi Falana (SAN),  who contested for the governorship election of Ekiti State in 2007 on the platform of National Conscience Party (NCP), in this exclusive interview with Punch, has called on the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), to release the embattled ex-National Security Adviser, Sambo Dasuki, and the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu, as ordered by the courts.

 

Below are excerpts from the chat;

 

Some have accused Buhari of being responsible for human rights abuse in the country. Do you agree?

 

I do not agree. We are dealing with institutionalised violations of human rights. It is part of the legacy of colonialism. Members of the neo-colonial ruling class have contempt for our people. Hence, in our police and military schools, human rights courses are not taught. From 1999-2015, our country witnessed horrendous violations of human rights and total disregard for court orders. Laws were also violated with impunity. There was a governor who once led armed thugs to demolish the houses of suspected kidnappers. I directed the attention of the governor to the bill signed by him which provides for death penalty. Instead of resorting to jungle justice, I advised him to allow the trial of such dangerous criminal suspects. When General Muhammadu Buhari, as a candidate of the All Progressives Congress, promised that he would fight corruption and end impunity, the majority of poor people decided to vote for him. The Federal Government has begun the fight against corruption but it has to be done within the ambit of the law. Otherwise, the government will play into the hands of criminal suspects. As corruption is already fighting back, the government has to ensure that those who looted the public treasury are tried in accordance with the law.

 

What do you advise the FG to do on Dasuki and Kanu?

 

Both Dasuki and Kanu were granted bail. (The Federal Government should) release them on bail or charge them to court without any further delay as one bail does not cover all criminal offences. In fact, Nnamdi Kanu was charged with treason. He said he did not want a particular judge to try him. Take him before another judge. I defended Henry Okah who was charged with treason under the Yar’Adua administration. He was tried in camera in Jos. He was refused bail. If the government has fears that Dasuki will run away, there are ways of dealing with the situation under the law. From the information at my disposal, the EFCC has other charges pending against him. Since this is not a security matter ‘stricto sensu’, let the Department of State Services stay away and stop embarrassing the government. The EFCC is competent to handle a clear case of unprecedented looting of the treasury. The rule of law requires that the infraction of the law by any criminal suspect be dealt with under the rule of law and not under the rule of man.

 

Aren’t you bothered that this government is authoritarian as alleged by some people?

 

No, I don’t agree with you. An authoritarian regime would not have taken Dasuki to court. He would have been held incommunicado until he has refunded all the funds allegedly stolen by him and his accomplices. During the military era, all the suspects would have been detained indefinitely under the State Security Detention of Persons Decree. Let us use words like Gestapo or dictatorship as loosely as it is being done by Governor Ayo Fayose (of Ekiti State). This is not an authoritarian rule but a democratic dispensation. Hence, we should rise up against the contraventions of human rights law by fighting impunity whenever it rears its ugly head.

 

 

Click here to read the interview in full