Human rights lawyer arrested in Abuja for ‘criticising’ police

Martin Obono, a human rights lawyer, has been arrested by the police in the federal capital territory (FCT) for allegedly criticising them.

Obono was arrested on Friday and he is being held at a police station in Zone 3, in the Wuse district of the capital city.

The lawyer’s arrest is connected to a rape case he is handling, which he had tweeted about.

Confirming his arrest to TheCable, Ndi Kato, a gender advocate, said she is at the police station and that efforts are being made to get him out of custody.

“We are here at the police station, We are with SP operations,” she said.

On Tuesday, the lawyer tweeted about the case.

“Five days ago, my clients reported a rape case. The suspect used police to turned the case on its head and got the ladies detained the girls in same cell with men. I was livid. It didn’t end there, they asked them to bring a level 14 civil servant, C of O to surety their bail,” he had tweeted.

“I managed to get them out without those stringent bail conditions. You now see why women don’t come out?”

I managed to get them out without those stringent bail conditions. You now see why women don’t come out?

— M. M. Obono (@martobono) June 2, 2020

Anjujuri Manzah, FCT police spokesman, is yet to comment on the development.

There has been an outrage against rape on social media following the spike in the number cases recorded across the country.

Vera Uwaila Omozuwa, a 100-level microbiology student of the University of Benin (UNIBEN), was reportedly killed after she was raped inside a parish of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) near Ikpoba Hill in Benin, Edo state, in May.