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Mailafia Fails To Honour Police Invitation
By Emmanuel Awosika
An Ex-Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Dr. Obadiah Mailafia, has declined the invitation extended to him by the police in Abuja.
Mailafia is currently under investigation by the Department of State Services for alleging that a Northern governor was a commander of terrorist Islamic sect, Boko Haram.
He had last week received a letter from the Nigerian Police, asking him to appear at the Force Headquarters in Abuja on Monday.
However, the former CBN official failed to honor the invitation because, according to his lawyer Yakubu Bawa, the invitation was “strange and alien to our extant laws and procedure.”
Bawa who addressed journalists at press conference in Jos said the DSS, not the Police, was the only security agency allowed to investigate Mailafia for his comments.
He said, “It is imperative to state that the case the Nigeria Police Force is investigation, where the name of Dr Obadiah Mailafia purportedly featured prominently cannot be unconnected and unrelated with the case the DSS is investigating, which borders on internal security.
“It is sacrosanct to note also that the DSS is the only statutory body empowered by law to investigate alleged crime against internal security not Nigerian Police Force.
“Section 3 (a) of the Security Agency Act stipulates this position and in consonance with the said provision, the DSS had assumed investigation into the matter.
“We have carefully analysed the letter of invitation served on Dr Mailafia, as well as the intention of the Nigerian Police Force as clearly stated in the said letter of invitation and upon which we immediately approached the high court of justice in Plateau State and filed an action for the enforcement of his fundamental rights to personal liberty and fair hearing as enshrined in our constitution.
“We have served the Inspector General of Police, Deputy Inspector General of Police, FCID, and the signatory of the said letter of invitation, one DCP Omar Mamman Sanda, by substituted means through the Commissioner of Police Plateau State command having obtained a court order to do so.
“We are praying the court to make a judicial pronouncement on the letter of invitation served on Dr Obadiah Mailafia; we are equally subjecting the invitation made by the office of the DIG, FCID, to Mailafia to appear for an interview on Monday under judical scrutiny.”
“We strongly believe that it is significant to hear the decision of the court on these germane issues, and it is necessary also for the office of the DIG Force CID to wait for the judicial verdict in order to know whether it is appropriate and in tandem with our extant laws for the Nigeria Police Force to invite Dr Mailafia in the midst of an ongoing investigation by the DSS on a matter that is related to internal security.”
The lawyer also warned the police against making any attempt to arrest or detain his client until the court weighed in on the matter.
