Looking worn-out and extremely restless as she
settled into the plastic chair in front of the
bungalow, Moheenat Jumoh could barely utter a
word. Since her release from a Department of
State Security facility in Abeokuta, Ogun State last
month and the subsequent delivery of her son,
Abdul-Raman, through a Caesarean Session, life
has not remained the same for the mother of six.
The primary school teacher is yet to fully recover
from the shock and trauma of that experience.
Moheenat and her husband, Ustaz Abdul-Ganiyu,
a cleric, were whisked away from their Ijoko, Ogun
State home in the early hours of July 5, 2014 by
unidentified gunmen. For several weeks their
whereabouts were unknown. But on September
10, a relative of the couple, Lukman Oketokun,
following an earlier call to come to the DSS office
in Abeokuta, found the pair in custody. Through
the help of a lawyer, the heavily pregnant woman
was released but her husband was not. He
remains in confinement. The DSS is yet to peg a
crime on the cleric or charge him to court.
Counsel to the couple, Musodiq Sanni, said after
Moheenat’s release that legal action would be
initiated against the secret police for violation of
the rights of his clients.
Several weeks have passed since that time and
the situation is only getting critical for the young
mother and her little children. Aisha, the eldest of
the six whose dream is to become a renowned
medical doctor in the future, can no longer attend
school as a result of lack of finance. It is the
same for her siblings, too. Daily living is now a
big challenge for the family.
Our correspondent travelled more than two hours
earlier in the week from Lagos to a remote part of
Ogun State to meet up with Moheenat where she
and the children were presently taking refuge.
They no longer stay in one location for too long
for fear of attack.
“The children and I can no longer sleep at night
peacefully because of fear,” she began, showing
signs of severe discomfort. The stitches on her
stomach are yet to fully heal while continued
discharge of body fluids and sometimes blood
from her private region compounds her agony.
But then that is not Moheenat’s only worry –
there are other things that also get her heart
pounding these days.
“Every knock on our door is like a death
sentence. It is like another set of gunmen has
come to take me and my children away. We are
all too afraid to answer a knock on our door. We
can’t even stay in a particular location for long
because of fear,” she said.
Blessed with adorable and intelligent children
whose dreams are to become huge successes in
the not too distant future, the young mother told
our correspondent in tears-soaked eyes what
plans she and her husband had for the kids. But
the continued absence of the head of the family
threatens all of those lofty ambitions.
“The children have stopped attending school. The
resources with which to take care of them
including their education have been a big burden
to me. I used to teach at a primary school before
I became pregnant but had to stop last November
because of my condition.
“For most of this period, we have stayed with my
mother-in-law but even she has her own
challenges. Mama is no longer working and she
is now completely blind. How would she be able
to take care of all of us under this condition?
“After giving birth to Abdul-Raman, the doctors
advised that I should eat good food so that my
womb can heal fast but because there are no
resources to do that, I always encounter pains in
that area and in fact I still go for dressing which
is not supposed to be so. This is the first time I
would be giving birth through caesarean section;
all my previous five children came through normal
delivery. This whole experience has really caused
a lot of damage to my health and general
wellbeing,” she revealed.
Suffering series of complications while in
detention and falling ill on more than one
occasion during the period, Moheenat has lost
pounds of flesh, becoming only a pale shadow of
what she once was. She shared some of those
chilling experiences with our correspondent, while
praying for the quick release of her husband and
best friend.
“While in detention, I and my husband contended
with cold and mosquito everyday,” she said. “We
were always restless but our thoughts were
constantly on our children and how they were
managing without us. Prayer was my only hope.
Though, the officers refused to provide me with a
Quran all the time that I requested for one, I never
stopped calling on God.
“It was a week before I was released that they
offered me a blanket to cover myself at night. I
and my husband had no extra clothe; I only wore
one clothe throughout my stay in detention. After
the first two weeks, I told them that I wasn’t
comfortable in the clothe anymore, that I needed
to change into something else especially because
of my condition. I was later taken to the hospital
where I was allowed to wash the clothe while
tying only a wrapper they gave me. But my
husband was on one clothe throughout the period
I was there and probably till now.
“I was always falling ill. I would go to the hospital
in the morning and return to the cell in the
afternoon I was released as a result of my critical
health condition. If I wasn’t released at that time,
the baby could have died inside me.
“After I had a scan, I was told the baby was not
developing well and that my blood pressure was
too high and that it was affecting the baby’s
health. I suffered a lot of complications while in
detention and even experienced contraction at
seven months. I was given a drug to use but by
the time I was supposed to deliver the baby, there
was no contraction anymore.
“The doctors inserted something into my private
part in the hope that it would help me deliver
normally but it did not. The next day I was
released with a note from them to another
hospital and since that time I have been bleeding
from that area. The first hospital I was taken to
couldn’t handle my case, I was referred to Ota
State Hospital where I was in labour for two days
before I was operated upon. Till this moment, I
still experience severe pains and this has been
compounded by the burden of raising six children
alone,” Moheenat told Saturday PUNCH , with
confusion written all over her face. It is one of the
lowest moments of her life.
Seventy-seven-year-old mother of the detained
cleric, Alhaja Alimotu, is another person who the
situation is also leaving with few words. Also
experiencing failing health as a result of the
arrest, Alimotu told our correspondent how the
whole drama had affected her life.
“My son is not a criminal neither is he a bad
person. He has done no evil and so we are
pleading with the authorities for his release. A
whole lot has been affected around me because
my son always visits me at my place in Mushin
and gives me money and other items to take care
of myself. Now, I am suffering in pains without
anybody to take care of me.
“Since he was taken away, I have gone to the
hospital more than three times as a result of high
blood pressure. The doctors said that my blood
pressure had shot above normal and that I must
not stress myself. But how can I rest when my
son is in detention without committing a crime.
No good mother can rest in such situation.
“I am hereby begging the government and all
those keeping my son to please release him so
that he can come back and take care of his
family. His children miss him, so do all of us. The
government should please release him to us,” the
septuagenarian said, crying like a newly born
baby. Abdul-Ganiyu is the youngest of her
surviving six children. Six others died
mysteriously along the line. The latest episode
adds salt to an already bleeding wound,
compounding an old woman’s misery.
The DSS refused to comment on the issue when
Saturday PUNCH contacted the agency on the
situation. A source later told our correspondent
that the case was being monitored from Abuja and
there was nothing Abeokuta could do about it.
Section 35 (5) of the 1999 Constitution (as
amended), section 483 of the Criminal Procedure
Act and section 42 of the Criminal Procedure
Code, state that the police ought not to detain any
person for more than 24 hours without a warrant
from a magistrate. But more than three months
since he was whisked away, Abdul-Ganiyu is yet
to be charged to court for any offence.
source: www.punchng.com

Well Crime doesnt pay,neither does janjaweiedism..