TheCable

BY STANLEY ALIEKE, Esq.

As Obi Cubana spends the second day in the detention facility of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) it should be known to all and sundry that the law mandates that nobody should be detained by any security agency in Nigeria for more than 24 hours or at most 48 hours without a court order if not the detainee’s right of personal liberty as constitutionally provided is already being violated.

Obinna Iyegbu, aka Obi Cubana, is said to have been arrested on Monday morning, November 1, 2021, for alleged crimes of money laundering and tax evasion. Three days and two nights later, the renowned businessman is yet to be released by the anti-crime agency as he is still being held captive in bondage in the commission’s facility.

According to Section 35 of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended) every Nigerian citizen is entitled to his personal liberty and when a person is arrested by any security agency in Nigeria for any offence or alleged crime, he must not be detained longer than 24-48 hours which is considered to be ‘a reasonable time’ without being released on bail or charged to court:

Section 35(5) hereby states; In subsection (4) of this section, the expression “a reasonable time” means –

(a) in the case of an arrest or detention in any place where there is a court of competent jurisdiction within a radius of forty kilometres, a period of one day; and

(b) in any other case, a period of two days or such longer period as in the circumstances may be considered by the court to be reasonable.

In as much as the law charged the officers of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission to go against economic and financial criminals or those they have every reason to believe are breaking the law and make them face the law, they must as well learn to do the same in accordance to the law, especially the fundamental human rights of individuals as provided by the constitution which is the ground norm of the society; right to personal liberty of suspect(s) by respecting the rights and liberties of the alleged cybercriminals or suspect; be it Obi Cubana who has spent 2 cold nights in their facility or any other individual who may have been arrested or will be arrested by the agency at any time.