Former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar has taken the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to the cleaner over its well-worn pattern of lawlessness, arresting and detaining citizens with brazen disregard for due process and without offering any justification for its actions.
While he expressed concern over the unlawful arrest and detention of Mr. Martins Vincent Otse, widely known as VeryDarkMan, whose release was only secured after massive public outrage and pressure, Atiku also cried out over the arrest of Hon. Muhammad Kazaure, a former member of the House of Representatives and an unapologetic critic of the gross misgovernance and failings of the Tinubu administration.
Atiku, in a statement said: “The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has once again plunged headlong into its well-worn pattern of lawlessness, arresting and detaining citizens with brazen disregard for due process and without offering any justification for its actions.
“We witnessed this same abuse in the unlawful arrest and detention of Mr. Martins Vincent Otse, widely known as VeryDarkMan, whose release was only secured after massive public outrage and pressure.
“Now, the EFCC has targeted Hon. Muhammad Kazaure, a former member of the House of Representatives and an unapologetic critic of the gross misgovernance and failings of the Tinubu administration. Abducted in Kano and whisked away to Abuja, Kazaure is presently being held incommunicado, with no formal charge or explanation offered to his family, legal team, or the Nigerian people.
“Let it be stated without equivocation: even if there were legitimate grounds for arresting any citizen, such action must adhere strictly to the rule of law. The EFCC is duty-bound to publicly disclose the reasons for any arrest and must not detain individuals indefinitely under the guise of investigation. The Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria is unequivocal on this matter—every detainee must be promptly charged to court or released.”
Atiku further said that “by once again trampling on the fundamental rights of a Nigerian citizen, the EFCC is entrenching itself deeper into the mire of impunity and constitutional delinquency. Its deafening silence regarding the arrest of Hon. Kazaure, a man who represented the good people of Kazaure, Roni, Gwiwa, and Yankwashi federal constituency, lays bare the agency’s contempt for transparency and justice.”
The former Vice President warned that they “are left with no choice but to conclude that Kazaure’s ordeal is a direct consequence of his fearless and unrelenting criticism of this administration. This government’s hypocrisy is as staggering as it is shameless: while it strikes cosy deals with politically connected figures tainted by corruption, it unleashes the machinery of the state to harass and silence its critics.
“The Nigerian people are watching. And history will not forget.”
