Obadiah Mailafia, a former deputy governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), declined to honour the invitation by the Nigeria Police Force scheduled in Abuja for Monday (today).
Mailafia’s lawyer, Yakubu Bawa, confirmed this development while speaking to journalists in Jos, the Plateau State capital, on Monday.
The letter with reference number: 3000/X/FHQ/ABJ/VOl.245/8, and entitled: “Re: Investigation Activities, Police Investigation”, did not state the reason for the invitation.
The invitation may, however, not be unconnected to Mailafia’s allegation that a governor from northern Nigeria is the commander of the terrorist group, Boko Haram.
But Bawa objected to the police invitation, insisting that “the service of the letter of invitation on Dr Mailafia by the Nigeria Police Force through the office of the Deputy Inspector General of Police Force Criminal Investigation Department strange and alien to our extant laws and procedure”.
He said: “It is critically imperative to state that the case the Nigeria Police Force is an investigation where the name of Dr Obadiah Mailafia purportedly featured prominently can not be unconnected and unrelated with the case the DSS is investigating against him 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 the Nigeria Police Force.
“Section 3 (a) of the security agency act eloquently stipulates this position and in consonance with the said provision, the DSS had assumed investigation into the matter.
“For the purpose of clarity and emphasis, the DSS is still investigating Dr Obadiah Mailafia in respect of the said matter.
“As a legal defence to Dr Obadiah Mailafia, we have carefully and meticulously analysed the letter of invitation served on him as well as the intention of the Nigeria Police Force as clearly stated in the said letter of invitation and upon which we immediately approached the high court of Justice 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 Force Criminal Investigation Department and the signatory of the said letter of invitation, one DCP Omar Mamman Sanda, by sure 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 Force Criminal Investigation Abuja to Mailafia to appear for an interview on Monday under judicial 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.
“We are calling on the Inspector General of Police to allow justice and the rule of law prevail in this matter especially now that Dr Mailafia has filed an action in court in line with the tenets of the constitutional democracy, judicial system, principles of human rights and the doctrine of the rule of law. The Nigeria Police Force is required by law to hold on and refrain from inviting and requesting him to appear at DIG office Force CID Headquarters Abuja.”
Speaking in an interview with Nigeria Info FM, Lagos, on 8 August, Mailafia claimed that repentant bandits had confessed to him that “one of the Northern governors is the commander of Boko Haram in Nigeria”.
Mailafia, who was the presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress in the 2019 election, also alleged that Boko Haram and the bandits are one and the same in Nigeria, adding that the terrorists moved weapons even during the COVID-19 lockdown.
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Following the allegation, the former CBN deputy governor had last week honoured an invitation by the Department of State Services (DSS), who has initiated a separate investigation.
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