Abubakar Malami, the federal attorney general of Nigeria, has confirmed, once again, that Sambo Dasuki, the immediate past national security adviser, is being held in detention illegally on the orders of Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari.
Mr. Malami, in a radio interview with Voice of America Hausa Service, is reported to have given reasons why the federal government continues to defy court orders for the release of Dasuki who has been in the custody of the Buhari government since 2015.
According to the senior advocate of Nigeria [who should be advising the president on the unconstitutional nature of his actions], “Dasuki’s personal right can be violated for the larger public good”. He said that Dasuki was responsible for 100,000 deaths in the country and as such, did not deserve bail.
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His radio interview was broadcast after another federal court, on July 2, 2019 served a warrant of release to the State Security Service, SSS.
“If the dispute is about an issue that affects an entire country, then you have to remember that government is about the people and not for only an individual,” Mr. Malami told VOA Hausa Service.
“What I want you to know is that issues concerning law and order under Muhammadu Buhari are sacrosanct and obeying court order is compulsory,.
“However you should also know that there is a general consensus world over that where the dispute is only between individuals, then you can consider the issue based on the instant situation. But if the dispute is about an issue that affects an entire nation, then you have to remember that government is about the people not for only an individual.
“So you have to look at it from this perspective. If the issue about an individual coincides with that which affects the people of a nation and you are now saying the government did not obey a court order that infringes on a single person’s rights.
“Remember we are talking about a person who was instrumental to the deaths of over one hundred thousand people. Are you saying that the rights of one person is more important than that of 100,000 who lost their lives?
“Reports have shown that there was massive mismanagement of funds meant for military hardware which the military could not access and that led to the death of many, embezzlement of the fund and because of that many people have lost their lives.
“Obeying the court is not the issue per say. Are we going to take the issue of an individual more important than that of the people?
“The government’s main responsibility is for and about the people. The essence of governance is to better the lives of its people. So you have to weigh it based on that; the rights of an individual or the rights of the people,” the federal attorney general said.
Dasuki, who served as national security advisor (NSA) to former President Goodluck Jonathan was in September 2015, charged to court by the State Security Services (SSS, also called DSS) for being in possession of seven rifles without a license. He was granted bail on self recognition and released.
Apparently, unsatisfied with the rule of law, President Buhari ordered his arrest soon after. He was charged for allegedly mismanaging $2.1 billion “meant for purchase of arms” to fight the Boko Haram insurgents.
Dasuki has been granted bail multiple times by different courts.
Following the government’s failure to obey the various court orders, Dasuki’s lawyers have approached the court demanding the discontinuation of their client’s trial on the grounds that the government agencies prosecuting Mr Dasuki had refused to obey legitimate orders of court and continue to keep their client in solitary confinement denying him access to his lawyers.
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It’s A Witchhunt – Dasuki Says
Soon after Buhari was sworn into office, Dasuki’s house was raided by operatives of the DSS in July with subsequent threats of charges for treasonable felony being brought against him over $40,000, seven luxury cars, and seven rifles found in his residence. His passport was unlawfully seized by the DSS.
Dasuki is a retired Army colonel and crown prince of the Sokoto Sultanate. He maintains that the raid on his house is a ‘witch-hunt’ by the Buhari government.
President Buhari appointed Lawal Daura, his kinsman from his hometown in Katsina on July 2, as head of the DSS after firing Ita Ekpeyong. Daura was recalled from retirement as he had retired from the service of the DSS when he reached the mandatory age of 60 according to the Civil Service rules of Nigeria. Daura has been exposed as a member of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and served on the security committee for Buhari’s presidential campaign.
It would be recalled that there has been considerable persecution of members and perceived sympathisers of the former President Goodluck Jonathan administration by the DSS, since Daura’s appointment. Some notable victims of the said clampdown include the former Chief Security Office (CSO) of Jonathan, Gordon Obua, who was detained in solitary confinement for days.
