SERAP To EFCC: Release Senator Shehu Sani, His Prolonged Detention Contravenes His Right To Presumption Of Innocence

The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project, SERAP, on Thursday called on the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, to release Senator Shehu Sani from detention.

However, SERAP, in a statement on Thursday by Yinka Olomojobi, accused the anti-graft agency of violating both the national and international law for detaining the Senator.

The statement said: “The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) should immediately release activist, Senator Shehu Sani detained on allegations of extortion or charge him with a recognizable criminal offence. I will return in 2023, Shehu Sani boasts

“By prolonging his detention without charge or trial, Mr Sani is being treated like a convicted criminal, in violation of national and international law.

“The continued detention of Mr Sani without charge is against the principle of being innocent until proven guilty.

“Nigeria is a state party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Article 9 of the ICCPR states that “anyone who is arrested shall be brought promptly before a judge or other officer authorized by law to exercise judicial power.”

“There are similar provisions in the Nigerian Constitution 1999 (as amended). The EFCC should promptly investigate any allegations against Mr Sani and release him on bail pending the conclusion of any such investigation.”

According to Mr Olomojobi, “The right to personal liberty is one of the most central human rights as it is connected to the essentialist rudiments of an individual’s physical freedom.

The right to liberty requires that the arrest or detention of an individual must be in accordance to the law.

“The right therefore protects the individual against the excesses of the government and its agents.

“The right to personal liberty is essentially a personal freedom in which no government can abridge.“This right is juxtaposed with other human rights and can be formally traced back to the English Magna Carta of 1215.”

Recall that Mr Sani, who represented Kaduna Central in the 8th Assembly, was arrested on the 31 of December 2019, for alleged extortion of $20,000 (N7.2m), from the owner of ASD Motors, Sani Dauda.