Marwa warns NDLEA officers against hostage arrest, illegal detention

Posted by admin Headlines, NDLEA (Anti-Drug Agency) Sunday, March 7th, 2021

Chairman/Chief Executive of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, Brig. General Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd), has warned commanders, officers and men of the agency against the detention of suspects beyond the limit allowed by law, even as he also prohibited the arrest of relation, spouse, or acquaintance of a suspected drug offender often referred to as hostage arrest.

The directives were contained in the reviewed operations and investigations guidelines to all commands of the agency across the country. He said the order had become imperative in view of the current democratic dispensation in the country and the need to adhere strictly to constitutional provisions regarding arrest and detention of suspects.

To avoid a breach of the operations guidelines, the NDLEA chief executive said “arrangements must be made for the filing of charges in court within 24 or 48 hours as may be applicable. Where this is not possible, a detention order must be procured from the Federal High Court for the continuous detention of an arrested person.”

He further directed that “investigations in all cases must be concluded not later than one (1) week,” adding that “in all cases of raid operations, all non-culpable suspects must be separated from those culpable and released immediately.”

He equally demanded that all prosecutors must ensure prompt filing of charges in court and pursue timely arraignment of suspects.

-Sun

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