Ex-EFCC boss, Bawa freed by DSS after 135 days

The Department of State Service has freed

The embattled ex-EFCC boss, Abdulrasheed Bawa, has been freed by the Department of State Service (DSS) after over 135 days in custody.

According to Punch, Bawa was released Wednesday night.

Bawa was apprehended since June 14, 2023, is being probed for alleged financial impropriety under his watch.

In a statement issued last month, Femi Falana said the remand order for Bawa had expired, insisting the DSS had no legal grounds to continue to detain him.

The statement partly read, “In view of the fact that Mr. Abdulrasheed Bawa has not been charged with any criminal offence whatsoever, the State Security Service ought to have released him from custody.

“I am not unaware of the claim that Mr. Bawa is being detained on the basis of a remand order issued by a Magistrate Court in the Federal Capital Territory.

“It ought to be pointed out that the remand order has become spent, invalid and illegal as no magistrate has the power under Section 493 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, 2015 or Section 35 of the Constitution of Nigeria to authorise the detention of a criminal suspect for 67 days without trial.”