Abdulrasheed Bawa, the Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), has been commuted to prison by a Kogi State High Court sitting in Lokoja for allegedly disobeying a court order.
The court also ordered Usman Baba, the Inspector-General of Police, Usman Baba, to arrest Bawa and put him in Kuje prison for 14 days, until he apologizes for his disrespect.
Justice R.O. Ayoola in a ruling on Monday in a case instituted by Ali Belo against Bawa and EFCC ordered that Bawa should be sent to prison for not following a court order from November 30, 2022, which ordered him to bring Ali Bello, the applicant in the case, to court.
The court said that the applicant’s arrest and detention despite an existing court order from a court of competent jurisdiction and without a warrant of arrest “or being told of the offence for which he was arrested” was illegal, unconstitutional, and a violation of the personal liberty and dignity of the human person guaranteed by Chapter IV of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999. (as amended).
Ayoola also ordered the defendants (Bawa and EFCC) to apologize to the plaintiff in a national newspaper and pay him N10 million in compensation.
Ali Bello had taken Bawa and EFCC to court for illegally arresting and holding him, and the court ruled in his favour. However, three days after the ruling, the EFCC charged him with money laundering. The EFCC’s requests to overturn the ruling and stop it from being carried out were turned down because they didn’t have a good reason to do so. The court asked Bawa to come before it on January 18, 2022, to explain why he shouldn’t go to jail for ignoring the order given on December 12, 2022.
Court sentences EFCC Boss, Bawa to jail again
