IGP should arrest, jail EFCC boss, Bawa – Group

A civil rights advocacy group, the Human Rights Writers Association (HURIWA) has called on the Inspector-General of Police, Usman Baba, to immediately enforce a court verdict ordering the imprisonment of the Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Mr. Abdulrasheed Bawa.

A Federal High Court in Abuja on Tuesday sent Bawa to Kuje correctional facility.

Bawa was convicted on Tuesday by Justice Chizoba Oji for contempt of court in relation to his agency’s failure to comply with an earlier order of the court.

HURIWA’s call, which is contained in a statement released by its National Coordinator, Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko, on Wednesday, comes on the heels of the position of a legal practitioner Mr. Maxwell Okpara, who said that Bawa would remain a convict until the vacation of the court order.

Commenting on the issue, HURIWA said: “The excuses by the EFCC that its chief executive, Mr. Abdulrasheed Bawa was not in office when the court order was handed down on 27th November 2018 does not make sense.

“Are they trying to say the Bawa, who has by the way been part and parcel of the Commission since inception, was not aware of the order or did not receive any handover note?

“The truth is that the non-compliance with the November 2021 order for four good years is perceived in many quarters as true to the character of the EFCC and other law enforcement agencies. The EFCC is being accused of being unfortunately reduced to a tool for political witch-hunt and the disregard for the rule of law is a norm, not an exception to them.

“This hydra-headed monster of selective application of the law, depending on the political alignment and sometimes the region and religion of the person in question, will continue to hunt the agency until it turns a new leaf. We expect that the young man heading the EFCC shouldn’t continue the trajectory of reckless disobedience of court orders that his predecessors were notorious for.

“We, therefore, call on the IGP to enforce the law and enjoin the rest of the law enforcement agencies who are fond of exalting themselves above the laws of the land to learn from Bawa’s fate. EFCC Chairman should also on his own volition report at Kuje prison if the IGP has disobeyed the court order and failed to do the needful by conveying him to the prison premises pending the hearing and determination of his application for stay of execution.”