Renowned Lagos lawyer Femi Falana Sunday, expressed fear that the criminal trial of those who abducted elder statesman, Chief Olu Falae last month may be bungled on the platter of contradictory reports of investigations from the Police and Department of State Services (DSS).
Sending a strong caution to the government on the issue, Falana disclosed that the ongoing scenario where the police and DSS in separate press conferences claimed to have arrested two sets of suspects who abducted Chief Falae gave divergent versions of the abduction saga.
Alluding to what happened in 2012 in the murder case of Mr. Olaitan Oyerinde, the then PA to the Edo state governor, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, where the police and DSS gave different versions of the killing, the rights activist warned that the successful prosecution of the present case may be bungled, if the security outfits are not coordinated.
He therefore charged the federal government “to call all law enforcement agencies in the country to order to prevent them from toying with the security of Nigerian people by engaging in meaningless competition and over-zealousness.”
According to him, notwithstanding that the suspects arrested by the Police have since been charged to the High Court in Akure, Ondo State, the DSS should hand over the suspects in its custody to the Police without delay.
He also called on the Attorney-General of Ondo State to ensure that the prosecution of the suspects who kidnapped Chief Falae is not bungled by the security agencies.
Besides, he called on President Buhari “to address the bloody clashes which occur regularly between farmers and Fulani herdsmen in various parts of the country.
He said, “Through the negligence of the State, the country has continued to witness the reckless killing of innocent farmers and the destruction of farmlands. Farmers, like other citizens, are entitled to the protection of the right to life and property.”
-Vanguard