By Bayo Alabira
Dutse
Jigawa state Attorney General and Commissioner of Justice, Barrister Sani Husaini Garun Gabas has said that the power given to Security and Civil Defense Corp (NSCDC) to arrest and prosecute state offences would be soon be withdrawn.
The commissioner of Justice, who disclosed in Dutse, Jigawa state capital, while responding to questions from reporters said: “By the provision of the constitution, it is only police and legal department that have the right to prosecute.
“But, the immediate past governor willingly directed the then attorney general and commissioner of justice to allow NSCDC to arrest and prosecute. We have now reviewed the matter and decided that henceforth, the NSCDC would stop prosecution in this state”, he stressed.
According to him, “in all the states of the federation, it is only in this state that NSCDC arrest and prosecute state offences, so Jigawa would not be an exception”.
However, the Jigawa state Commandant of the NSCDC, Dr. Muhammad Gidado Fari, said: “In NSCDC Act 2001 section 1 to 3 clearly stated and gives the organisation power to arrest, investigate and hand over to the police for further investigation and prosecution”.
“Also in the amended Act 2003 states that we have power with or without warrant to arrest, detains, investigates and institute a legal prosecution by or in the name of the attorney general of the federation in accordance with the provision of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria”, he emphasised.
