The leadership of Arewa Council of Chiefs in Lagos has appealed to the Department of State Services (DSS) to release the detained Sarkin Hausawa, Lagos, Alhaji Aminu Idris Yaro and his wife.
The chiefs lamented that Alhaji Yaro, who is the chairman of the Council of Chiefs in the state and his wife have been detained by the DSS for about three days.
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They asserted that the duo had been held incommunicado after they honoured an invitation by the secret police agency.
In a statement issued by their spokesperson and Jarman Lagos, Yerima Shettima, the chiefs said they learnt that Alhaji Yaro was being held in connection with the ongoing investigation of the suspended governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr Godwin Emefiele.
While describing Yaro as an honest and transparent leader, the chiefs demanded his immediate release or access to his lawyer, or in the alternative, present him for cognisance by a competent court of law in accordance with the provisions that invalidate the indefinite detention of persons without trial.
Shettima said the council was not unaware of the friendship between Alhaji Yaro and Emefiele “just the way Emefiele is friends with many other chiefs and dignitaries all over the country and around the globe.”
“What is regrettable is, however, the unexplained connection of a friend with the ongoing investigation of Emefiele, who till this moment, as far as the public is concerned, is only being accused of possession of unlicensed firearms.
“The council is concerned that the DSS might typically be used to hunt down respected leaders of the community using terrorism fight as a smoke screen.
“While the Arewa Council of Chiefs does not dispute the prerogative of the DSS and any security service in the country to invite any person it deems useful for any of its investigations, we however find the detention of the Sarkin Hausawa incommunicado and beyond the lawfully allowed 24 hours by the DSS, repugnant to the sensibilities of the traditional rulership system, the Arewa community and the Council of Chiefs.
“The Arewa Council of Chiefs, and indeed the Arewa Community in the South-West and every decent Nigerian and institution in Nigeria can without a doubt attest to the Sarkin Hausawa’s credibility, leadership, sacrifice, statesmanship, patriotism and unwavering commitment to the interests of the people of Northern Nigerian in the South, and citizens of Nigeria as whole.
“While the Arewa Council of Chiefs is very much aware of the obligations on every Nigerian to assist government agencies and institutions in the all-important fight against corruption within the laws of the land, and in building a nation united around the values of justice and honest enterprise, we nevertheless shall remain firm in the belief that security agencies are as much deserving of respect in the same manner the traditional institutions demand to be respected,” the chiefs said.
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