Detained sponsors of Boko Haram, bandits drag Malami to court

After staying in detention for months without trial—something that has created suspicion they have been released–some suspects arrested for funding Boko Haram and bandits have sued AGF/Justice Minister Abuakar Malami.

They are challenging their unlawful detention in military and DSS centres across the nation.

The suspects are mostly  currency traders home and abroad whom intelligence agencies—including Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA), and in collaboration with the Department of State Services (DSS), Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU), and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)—arrested in 2020.

They are kept in custody until the completion of their investigation, Malami has said.

Lawyer Femi Falana and other critics of the administration have demanded the whereabouts of the suspects, wondering if the federal government they believe is sympathetic to terrorists, has released them.

Among those arrested include Baba Usaini, Abubakar Yellow (Amfani), Yusuf Ali Yusuf (Babangida), Ibrahim Shani, Auwal Fagge, and Muhammad Lawan Sani.

They prayed the court to terminate their alleged unlawful incarceration and monetary compensation from the government for curtailing their rights to freedom of movement in breach of their constitutionally guaranteed rights and losses in their businesses.

However at the Federal High Court where their cases were listed for mention before a vacation judge, Justice Ahmed Ramat Mohammed, some of the suits were consolidated owing to their similarities in claims against the government.

Justice Mohammed fixed September 1, 2021 for further mention of the matters.