The Association of Bureau De Change, BDC, Operators of Nigeria has called for the immediate release of its members being detained by the State Security Services, SSS.
The groups lawyer, Rilwan Idris, made the call at a news conference in Abuja
According to the BDC operators, the SSS operatives had arrested and detained 26 members without charging them to court, describing it as a breach of their “fundamental human rights”.
Mr. Rilwan Idris said SSS had been holding his clients after inviting them from Kano, Yola, Sokoto, Minna and Lagos for questioning over two weeks ago.
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He noted that the 26 detainees had not been allowed access to their families, and that letters of inquiry about the offences they were being detained for were ignored by the agency.
Mr Idris said, “the law empowers security agencies to investigate offences where an individual may be found wanting. It also provides for the way and manner such investigation should be carried out and conducted within the ambit of the law.
“After they were invited and detained, we wrote a letter to the SSS on March 22, demanding the release of all 26 members invited for questioning and we did a follow-up to know about their offences, but we were told to come back.
“None of their family members has had access to them. We have been further informed by the family members that some of the arrested individuals have underlying health challenges which require regular medical attention which they have not had access to since the dates of their arrests and detention.
