It’s a cause for concern that Shehu Sani, the vocal ex-senator who represented Kaduna Central in the last Senate, is said to have been subjected to harsh detention conditions by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
EFCC said: “Sani is currently facing criminal investigation, and he is being detained by the EFCC in very conducive environment, based on a valid court order…Sani has questions to answer as regards the alleged involvement in name-dropping, and particularly that he obtained $25,000 from Alhaji Sani Dauda, the ASD Motors boss, in order to help shield him from investigations being carried out by the EFCC.”
But Sani’s aide, Suleiman Ahmed, says the EFFC’s claim about Sani’s detention environment is far from the truth, and that the said detention environment is far from being “very conducive.” Ahmed was quoted as saying on a radio show that Sani was detained “for more than 10 days in an underground cell, which, whenever he will be given food, we have to call some people from the top before he could be given food.”
Ahmed repeated these allegations in a newspaper interview. The repeated allegations show Ahmed is serious and wants the allegations to be taken seriously. He said: “Initially, there was a lot of intimidation because in the first five days of his arrest, whenever food was taken to him, we would be made to wait for several hours till somebody at the top gives the order for clearance. Due to this, he doesn’t eat on time. Sometimes, he gets his breakfast at 11am or 12 while he gets his lunch at 4pm. That is why his family resolved to give him food twice a day. So, does this have to do with extortion?”
Are Ahmed’s allegations true? The EFCC has a lot of explaining to do, beyond just saying that Sani is being detained in a “very conducive environment.” Sani is being investigated for alleged extortion, but that’s no reason he should be treated in the manner described by Ahmed. Indeed, it’s scandalous that an EFCC detainee is said to have been subjected to the detention conditions described by Ahmed.
The EFCC shouldn’t have detention centres where detainees are kept in inhumane conditions, no matter why such detainees are in detention. The 14-day detention order to investigate, which the commission obtained on January 2, wasn’t meant to expose the detainee to cruel conditions. Ahmed’s picture of Sani’s detention conditions is bad for the EFCC’s image, and suggests there’s more to his detention than meets the eye.
Leave a Reply