The Ekiti State Governor, Ayodele Fayose, said that the Federal Government and its law enforcement agencies were contributing to the problem of congestion in Nigerian prisons.
The governor urged the office of the National Security Adviser, NSA, to critically look into the alleged nefarious activities of security and law enforcement agencies, adding that apart from constituting infraction on the fundamental rights of citizens guaranteed under the constitution, they also contribute to the perennial problem of prison congestion in the country.
Fayose was reacting to a letter by the NSA, Maj. Gen. B.M. Mungonu, retd., to state governors with reference number NSA/601/A and dated January 16, 2017 on the need to facilitate quick decongestion of Nigerian prisons.
In the letter, the NSA was said to have attributed the problem facing the administration of justice in the country to congestion of prisons by awaiting trial suspects and condemned convicts.
But the Ekiti state governor, in a letter he personally signed and made available to journalists in Abuja yesterday, noted that agencies of the Federal Government, including the police, the Department of State Services, DSS, and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, arrest and detain innocent citizens as well as perceived opponents of the state for flimsy reasons and on malicious, spurious and unfounded allegations.
He added that many Nigerians have been wasting in prisons without any reprieve because of alleged cooked-up charges of heinous offences preferred against them by these agencies of state.
In his words, “Specifically, the controversial arrests and continued detention of Messers Nnamdi Kanu, Col. Sambo Dasuki (retd.) and Ibrahim El-Zakzaky, among several others, and the flagrant disregard and disobedience to court orders directing their release from prison by security and law enforcement agencies are not only unjust, immoral and detestable but constitute an affront to the rule of law and a rape of democracy.
“Your inaction or failure to address the above-mentioned acts of executive rascality and lawlessness will definitely undermine and belie your sincere concern and genuine commitment to the decongestion of the prisons as stated in your letter.”
Comments