24 people detained since 2021 over links to Nnamdi Kanu, lawyer claims

Nnaemeka Ejiofor, a lawyer in the legal team of Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), says 24 persons are being detained by security agents over their alleged link to the IPOB leader.

In 2017, the federal government proscribed IPOB as a terrorist group.

The government also preferred terrorism charges against Kanu.

Speaking with journalists on Monday, Ejiofor said the 24 persons on his list were picked up across various states of the south-east and had been in detention since 2021.

He said they have not been seen, nor have they been charged before any court in the country.

“The offences of these men and women are that they are members of the IPOB or close associates of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu,” he said.

“None of these victims of enforced disappearance have received anything like trial since their arrests.

“None of them has ever been allowed to contact their lawyers or family and all judicial efforts made to see them or get them released have been illegally thwarted and frustrated.

“These 24 identified victims are just a fraction of the number of persons who were arrested and disappeared as so many very gory and scary reports of extrajudicial execution, murder in the cruellest manner such as by suffocation, starvation and/or summary execution abound.”

Those alleged to be in unknown detention facilities are listed as Ikechukwu Henry, Joy Udoh, Emeka Ngomadi, Pius Awoke, Chinedum Nwoba, Igwe Dike, Ogbonna Ajah, Kingsley Onovu, Ogbonna David, Kenneth Ojima and Fortune Okerie.

Others are Joseph Eze, Emmanuel Chinonso, Uket Godwin, Ogbonna Ndubusi, Eze Chukwuemeka, Ibeleme Tochukwu, Emmanuel Ike, Cletus Egole, Phillip Egole, Chinonso Anyanwu, Kelechi Okeke, Godspower Chilemu and Chukwuma Nwaokike.

Ejiofor accused the Department of State Services (DSS) and the Nigerian Army of a flagrant breach of the fundamental rights of the detainees.

He requested that the authorities arraign the detainees if they have committed any known offence instead of detaining them in breach of the 1999 constitution.

“At a point, we were told that they have been moved to a military camp in Kainji where Boko Haram terrorists are being kept. But unfortunately, all findings on our part yielded no fruitful results,” he said.

“As I am addressing you, I can confirm to you that since 2021 when my clients were unlawfully arrested, no one has been allowed to see or access them. Our security should do their work diligently and in line with the provisions of the law.

“We are not in Banana republic. We are in a democratic era and everything we are doing, including our security agencies, must be in tune with our laws.

“We want the federal government to do the right thing by producing these victims and releasing them to their families with apologies and compensation.”