LAGOS MARCH 15TH (URHOBOTODAY) — A High Court judge has accused Nigeria’s Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and the army of behaving as if the country is still under military dictatorship and ordered the immediate release of a colonel detained without charges for nearly three months.
Judge Yusuf Haliru said the detention of Col. Nicholas Ashinze was illegal. Ashinze was aide to former presidential security adviser Sambo Dasuki, who also was arrested in December on allegations of diverting $2.9 billion meant to buy arms to fight the Boko Haram insurgency. Three different courts have ordered Dasuki’s release but President Muhammadu Buhari has said he must stay in jail.
Some lawyers have accused Buhari of using his fight against corruption to settle political scores. Human rights groups say some judges and lawyers are corrupt.
AP