Kassim Afegbua, the embattled media adviser to former military president, Ibrahim Babangida, who was declared wanted by the Nigerian government following his anti- Buhari statement on Sunday will turn himself in on Wednesday when he returns from a trip, his lawyers said Tuesday morning.
However, the lawyers in a statement released said the journalist and long-time spokesperson of Mr. Babangida had done nothing wrong at law, adding that he is ready for fight the authorities in court.
The statement read in part, 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,” according to the statement which came from Kayode Ajulo & Co. in Abuja.
“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.”
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