Falana Warns Police, SSS against Frustrating Prosecution of Falae’s Abductors

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A human rights lawyer, Mr. Femi Falana, on Sunday raised the alarm over the two sets of suspects arrested by the Nigeria Police and Department of State Security (DSS) in the abduction of the former Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Chief Olu Falae.

Falana, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), said the claims by the police and DSS to have arrested the two sets of suspects, who kidnapped Falae could frustrate the on-going prosecution before an Ondo State High Court sitting in Akure as witnessed in the murder case of Mr. Olaitan Oyerinde, Edo State Governor, Mr. Adams Oshiomhole’s Personal Assistant.

He expressed concerns over the belated arrest by the DSS operatives in a statement he personally signed yesterday, thereby asking the DSS “to hand over the suspects in its custody to the police without delay since those arrested by the police have since been charged to the court.”

Consequently, the senior advocate asked the Ondo State Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Mr. Eyotabo Jegede “to ensure that the prosecution of the suspects who kidnapped the former SGF is not bungled by the security agencies” as it was in Oyerinde’s case.

He added that it was high time the federal government called all law enforcement agencies in the country “to order with a view to preventing them from toying with the security of the Nigerian people by engaging in meaningless competition and overzealousness.”

Falana therefore likened the handling of Falae’s kidnap prosecution to what happened in the murder case of Oshiomhole’s personal assistant, who he said, was gruesomely killed in the presence of his wife and young children on May 4, 2012.
A few days after Oyerinde was murdered, the senior advocate recounted that the Nigeria Police “addressed a news conference in Benin where a set of suspects were paraded before the media admitted their ignoble role in the criminal enterprise.

“Based on the investigation which had been conducted into the matter, the police authorities concluded that it was a case of paid assassination. Nigerians were assured by the Police that the suspects would be promptly charged to court.

“Shortly after, the DSS addressed another news conference in Abuja and paraded another set of criminal suspects. The suspects also confessed that they were solely responsible for Oyerinde’s barbaric murder. The DSS which claimed to have investigated the incident stated that it was a case of armed robbery.

“Regrettably, the office of the Attorney-General of the Federation was unable to reconcile the two conflicting versions of the same incident… A similar ugly scenario has just been re-enacted in the case of the criminal gang that abducted Falae last month.”

The senior advocate explained that at separate news conferences, both the police and the DSS claimed “to have arrested the two sets of suspects who abducted Falae. Both security agencies gave divergent versions of the abduction saga.”

He therefore called President Muhammadu Buhari “to address the bloody clashes which occur regularly between farmers and Fulani herdsmen in the various parts of the country. Through the negligence of the state, the country has continued to witness the reckless killing of innocent farmers and the destruction of farmlands.”

Since the federal government is obligated to protect the life and property of every citizen, Falana suggested that urgent steps should be taken “to avert further killings and destruction of farmlands by herdsmen.

“If the Buhari administration does not discharge its constitutional duty by stopping the unwarranted civil disturbances, we shall not hesitate to pray the federal high court to compel it to act responsibly in the circumstance by ensuring the protection of the fundamental rights of every farmer to life and property.

“At the same time, we shall equally ask the court to compel the federal government and state government with large livestock populations to establish grazing reserves and ranches.”