All plans have been concluded by the lawyers of Kassim Afegbua, the media adviser to ex-Nigerian leader Ibrahim Babangida, who was declared wanted by the police to turn himself in on Wednesday.
Afegbua was declared wanted by the Inspector General of Police over a statement he released on behalf of former military dictator, General Ibrahim Babangida urging President Muhammadu Buhari not to seek re-election in 2019.
In a reaction to the declaration of Afegbua as a ‘wanted’ man, his lawyers, Kayode Ajulo & Co have issued a statement to confirm that he did nothing to warrant his being declared wanted.
According to the lawyers “Mr. Afegbua is a well-known journalist and was a cabinet member of Edo State Government with a known address in Benin, Edo State and Abuja, yet he is not on notice of the police invitation whatsoever, before the purported publication declaring him wanted,”
“For the avoidance of doubt, there are spelt-out procedures for declaring a person wanted by the police. The police or other law enforcement agencies can declare a person wanted if they find reasons to do so, particularly if the person is a suspect in the commission of a crime and is on the run.
“The public must know that our client, in discharging his duty to his principal, General Ibrahim Babangida, GCFR cannot by any stretch of the imagination be said to have committed a crime that warrants such negative publicity. Neither is he on the run.
“Our client, however, remains undeterred by the desperate efforts of some individuals to intimidate him and bend his will and rights against the Constitution provisions, framework of Nigeria Police Force Act and the laws of the land.
“The circumscription of his constitutional right to the dignity of self, freedom of expression and fair hearing denotes that there is a desperate attempt to scare him into submission,” the statement said.
Mr. Afegbua would turn himself in when he returns from a trip by Wednesday, his lawyers said.
Credit: premiumtimesng.com
