Human rights lawyer, Femi Falana (SAN) has said that it is illegal for the defence headquarters to declare murder suspects wanted.
He insisted that the federal government ought to direct the army to hand over the investigation of the suspects involved in the gruesome murder of the 17 officers and soldiers.
Falana asserted that murder is not an offence that warrants the investigation of the defence headquarters.
He claimed that if the federal government fails to call the defence headquarters to order, the murder case would be bungled.
The lawyer stated this while reacting to the wanted lists published today by the Nigerian army.
Speaking via a statement, he said, “The authorities of the armed forces should be made to realise that the military cannot arrest, detain, investigate and charge civilian suspects with any offence whatsoever.
“In Dr Issa Perry Brimah v Nigerian Army, Justice Ijeoma Ojukwu held that “It must be stated here without equivocation that the defendant [Nigerian Army] has no right to declare the plaintiff wanted without following the appropriate procedure.
The Judge further said that the defendant cannot arrest the plaintiff arbitrarily without making a formal report to law enforcement agency with the mandate to enforce law and order. Otherwise, it would transmute to self-help. The duty of the defendant is to make a formal report to the appropriate authority like the police and await the outcome.
In Miss Grace Anita Paul v. The Chief of Army Staff, the Army, Inspector General of Police & the Nigerian Police Force the Federal High Court where held that the Nigerian Army lacks the power to arrest, investigate and hold in custody, anyone who is not subject to the Armed Forces Act or any other military law. Justice Taiwo Taiwo, on Wednesday, warned the military not to usurp the powers of the Nigerian Police under Sections 4 and 84 of the Police Act which empowers the police to detect and investigate crime.
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