Marwa lays down the law at NDLEA, says suspects must be charged within 48 hours

Buba Marwa, chairman, National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), has warned personnel against the detention of suspects beyond the limit allowed by law.

Femi Babafemi, director, media and advocacy, NDLEA, issued a statement to this effect on Saturday in Abuja.

According to the statement, Marwa warned against the arrest of relatives and acquaintances of suspected drug offenders.

He urged the NDLEA operatives to abide by the constitutional provisions regarding the arrest and detention of suspects.

“To avoid a breach of the operations guidelines, arrangements must be made for the filing of charges in court within 24 or 48 hours as may be applicable,” he said.

“Where this is not possible, a detention order must be procured from the Federal High Court for the continuous detention of an arrested person.”

Marwa also said investigation in all cases should be concluded not later than one week, adding that in all cases of raid operations, all non-culpable suspects should be separated from those culpable and released immediately.

The NDLEA chairman also called for the prompt arraignment of suspects.

He warned against the detention of people for the purpose of obtaining information and intelligence without committing any drug-related offence.

“The agency and its personnel shall in the course of arrest and search, respect the dignity of the human person of the suspect,” Marwa said.

“Accordingly, a suspect shall not in any way be ill-treated. Leg chain and handcuff may only be used where the person is violent and/or resistant to arrest such that reasonable force is required to restrain him or her.”