Falana calls for arrest, prosecution of rumoured coup plotters

A Lagos based lawyer, Mr Femi Falana (SAN), yesterday called on the Nigerian authorities to fish out those rumoured to be planning to overthrow President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration with a view to trying them for treasonable felony.

This is as he called for the arrest and prosecution of the civilian collaborators of the coup plot.

Falana made the call in Ilorin, Kwara State, at the weekend in a paper titled “Politics, Leadership And Accountability: The Role Of The People” delivered at a colloquium on Kwara@50 organised by The Movement For Genuine Change.

“The political class should stop playing into the hands of potential coup plotters. While the decision of the Army chief to alert the nation of the devilish plot is appreciated, the authorities should proceed to fish out the coup plotters and their civilian collaborators with a view to trying them for treasonable felony.

“Notwithstanding the glaring shortcomings of the fragile democratic process, the people should be allowed to take advantage of the democratic structures to take their political destiny in their own hands.”

On the economic front, Falana called for the resuscitation of the Peoples’ Bank to give loans to indigent citizens who could not access loans in commercial banks.

“The Islamic Bank and others which are not going to charge interests should be established. In addition, the federal government should spend the fund recovered from corrupt public officers and their privies on job creation and fixing of hospitals and schools as well as the funding of other social services,” he said.

Also speaking, a member of the National Executive Council (NEC) of the NLC, Comrade Issa Aremu, charged Nigerians to always ask their leaders questions on good governance as well as speak out on issues affecting their today and future.