Falana tells Buhari to obey court order and release Dasuki

                            

Senior Advocate of Nigeria and human rights lawyer Femi Falana has urged President Muhammadu Buhari to release former national security adviser Col. Sambo Dasuki (retd.) as soon as possible.

The Punch reports that Falana, in a statement released on Sunday, November 13, said it was time that the President checked human rights abuses under his administration and a good way to start is to release Dasuki who has been in jail for over a year despite court orders for his release.

Falana said the call had become necessary because of the ban by the United States of America on the sale of arms to Nigeria over alleged continued violation of human rights under the Buhari administration.

The former president of the West African Bar Association (WABA) advised President Buhari to follow ECOWAS court’s order on Dasuki and release him.

“With respect to the substantive relief, the ECOWAS Court held that the detention of Col. Dasuki without a court order could not be justified under the Nigerian Constitution and the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights.

“Consequently, the court ordered the release of the applicant and the payment of N15m damages to him as reparation for the infringement of his rights.

“In reporting the judgment of the ECOWAS Court, the media conveyed the impression that that the Federal Government has been ordered to release the plaintiff unconditionally from further detention.

“Contrary to such misleading impression, the ECOWAS Court has not discharged and acquitted Col. Dasuki in respect to the criminal charges pending against him in the Nigerian courts. All that the court said was that the suspect be allowed to enjoy his human right to liberty within the context of the bail granted him by the trial courts,” Falana said.

Recall that a panel of ECOWAS court judges recently ruled that Dasuki’s detention without the backing of any court order was wrong. The court then ordered his immediate release even as the case brought against him by the federal government continues in court. It also fined Nigeria N15m in damages to be awarded to Dasuki.