Abubakar Malami, Former Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation, Laments In Detention

<h4>Abubakar Malami<&sol;h4>&NewLine;<h4><&sol;h4>&NewLine;<p><strong><a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;openlife&period;ng&sol;">OpenLife Nigeria<&sol;a> <&sol;strong>reports that former Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation is currently lamenting in detention over what he calls disobedience to court orders&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The lamentation of the 58 years old Kebbi State born lawyer is contained in a press release from his media office titled <strong>&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;Office of Abubakar Malami Raises Alarm Over DSS Detention and Obstruction of Legal Defence in EFCC Interim Forfeiture Case”<&sol;strong><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><em><strong>The Office of Abubakar Malami&comma; SAN&comma; expresses grave concern over a series of actions by state agencies which&comma; taken together&comma; amount to a deliberate attempt to frustrate his constitutional right to fair hearing and effective legal defence&period;<&sol;strong><&sol;em><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><em><strong>Following charges filed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission &lpar;EFCC&rpar;&comma; the Federal High Court granted Mr&period; Malami bail&period; <&sol;strong><&sol;em><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><em><strong>However&comma; the EFCC delayed the submission of his international passports to the court for about one week&comma; despite the passports being a key condition for the perfection of bail&period; This delay unnecessarily prolonged his detention and obstructed the execution of a valid court order&period;<&sol;strong><&sol;em><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><em><strong>Immediately after Mr&period; Malami eventually perfected his bail and was released from Kuje Custodial Centre&comma; he was rearrested by the <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;openlife&period;ng&sol;">Department of State Services &lpar;DSS&rpar;<&sol;a>&period; <&sol;strong><&sol;em><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><em><strong>He was thereafter detained for five days without access to his lawyers or family&comma; and was only allowed to meet his legal team on Friday after prolonged isolation&comma; delays&comma; and grave violations of his fundamental human rights&period;<&sol;strong><&sol;em><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><em><strong>This detention occurred at a critical time when Mr&period; Malami was required to prepare and open his defence in an EFCC interim forfeiture proceeding before the <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;en&period;wikipedia&period;org&sol;">Federal High Court<&sol;a>&period; Denying him access to counsel during this period directly impaired his ability to consult&comma; prepare filings&comma; and give instructions&comma; amounting to a clear frustration of due process&period;<&sol;strong><&sol;em><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><em><strong>This sequence of events clearly suggests a pattern where arrest precedes investigation&comma; with evidence sought after detention—an approach that is a blatant violation of the rule of law and constitutionally guaranteed rights&period; It is deeply troubling that the DSS appears to be adopting a similar practice of arrest&comma; detention&comma; and then evidence gathering&period;<&sol;strong><&sol;em><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><em><strong>The Office stresses that bail granted by a court must have meaning&period; No agency should be permitted to neutralise judicial orders through coordinated delays&comma; rearrests&comma; or denial of access to legal representation&period; Such actions undermine the authority of the courts and pose a serious threat to fundamental human rights&period;<&sol;strong><&sol;em><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><em><strong>Mr&period; Malami remains ready to defend himself fully in court and in accordance with the law&comma; and calls on all state institutions to respect court orders&comma; constitutional guarantees&comma; and the rule of law&period;<&sol;strong><&sol;em><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><em><strong>Signed&colon;<&sol;strong><&sol;em><br &sol;>&NewLine;<em><strong>Mohammed Bello Doka<&sol;strong><&sol;em><br &sol;>&NewLine;<em><strong>Special Assistant on Media to Abubakar Malami&comma; SAN<&sol;strong><&sol;em><&sol;p>&NewLine;<figure id&equals;"attachment&lowbar;32249" aria-describedby&equals;"caption-attachment-32249" style&equals;"width&colon; 276px" class&equals;"wp-caption alignnone"><img class&equals;"size-full wp-image-32249" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;openlife&period;ng&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2026&sol;01&sol;images-15&period;png" alt&equals;"Abubakar Malami&comma; Former Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation&comma; Laments In Detention" width&equals;"276" height&equals;"183" &sol;><figcaption id&equals;"caption-attachment-32249" class&equals;"wp-caption-text"><em><strong>DSS<&sol;strong><&sol;em><&sol;figcaption><&sol;figure>&NewLine;