The Chairman/Chief Executive, National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Brig-Gen. Mohammed Buba Marwa (rtd) has directed all commanders and other operatives of the agency to ensure all suspects are charged to court within 24 hours.
He also directed that on no account should a relation, spouse or acquaintance of a suspect be arrested in place of the suspect.
A statement on Saturday by the NDLEAD spokesperson, Femi Babafemi, said Marwa’s directive was contained in the new guidelines to all personnel of the anti-drug agency.
The NDLEA boss also warned commanders, officers and men of the agency against the detention of suspects beyond the limit allowed by law. He said where this is not possible, a detention order must be gotten from the Federal High Court for the continuous detention of an arrested person.
Marwa said: “Investigations in all cases must be concluded not later than one week. In all cases of raid operations, all non-culpable suspects must be separated from those culpable and released immediately.
“The Agency and its personnel shall in the course of arrest and search respect the dignity of the human person of the suspect. 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/her.
“Detention of persons for purposes of obtaining information and/or intelligence without such a person committing any drug related offence is hereby prohibited.”
