Lagos based lawyer and activist, Barrister Festus Keyamo (SAN) has asked President Muhammadu Buhari to sack the Inspector General of Police, Ibrahim Idris over his alleged illegal arrest, detention and trial of two brothers, Daniel and Tim Elombah.

In the open letter, Keyamo who is the solicitor to the two brothers accused the IGP of display of high handedness in their arrest over a publication allegedly published against him.

The petition, dated Monday, January 15, 2018 and signed by Festus Keyamo, SAN, was titled ‘Open Petition Against The Inspector-General Of Police, Ibrahim Idris, In Respect Of High-Handedness And Abuse Of Office In Ordering The Illegal Arrest, Detention And Trial Of Online Journalists (The Elombah Brothers).

The lawyer accused the IGP Idris of sending men and officers of the Federal Special Anti-Robbery Squad to invade the family compound of the Elombah brothers in Edoji, Uruagu Nnewi, Anambra State without telling them the offence they have committed.

See The Petition Below:

We are solicitors to Daniel and Tim Elombah and we have been briefed as follows: Our clients are the Publisher and Editor respectively of the UK-based online news website called Elombah.com.

Daniel Elombah is also a lawyer by profession. On or about the 1st day of January, 2018, the Inspector-General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, caused the men and officers of the Federal Special Anti-Robbery Squad to invade the family compound of our clients in Edoji, Uruagu Nnewi, Anambra State.

Six persons (including our clients) were arrested, handcuffed like common criminals and driven to the SARS office in Nnewi.

They were subsequently taken to the SARS headquarters in Awkuzu, near Awka. Up till this point, our clients were not informed of the reason(s) for their arrests.

It was at SARS headquarters in Awkuzu that our clients were handed over to other armed officers who identified themselves as being from Special Tactical Squad, S.T.S, a team that works directly in the office of the Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Ibrahim Idris. Our clients and one Izuchukwu Elombah were then taken all the way by road (and in handcuffs) to Abuja.

It was in Abuja that the officers then subjected our clients to hours of grueling interrogation regarding an article published in another blog called opinionnigeria.com, titled ‘IGP Ibrahim Idris’s Unending Baggage of Controversies”.

The article in question was not published by our clients’ blog, Elombah.com, and our clients denied any link to the author, one Ebiowei Dickson. Daniel and Izuchukwu Elombah were eventually released on bail, but have been made to report constantly since then.

However, the Police got a Remand Order to detain Tim for seven days which expired more than a week ago and the Police are still holding Tim illegally. We now understand that the Police have prepared a Charge against our clients and they would soon be arraigned.

Your Excellency, it is shocking and alarming, to say the least, that the Inspector-General of Police deployed the officers and men of special police squads like SARS and STS, which are established to fight serious and violent crimes, to settle a purely private grievance with on-line journalists.

If at all an offence was committed by the said published article (which is not conceded) a simple civil invitation to our clients would have sufficed. But to use such strong-arm tactics to reign in our clients was a gross abuse of his office and an employment of stone-age tactics in pursuing his personal grievance.

He has further displayed his personal vendetta by refusing to release Tim Elombah long after the detention order has expired. This is one of the worst forms of abuse of human rights.

Your Excellency, such practices should be clearly unacceptable under your watch. A situation where your appointees ride rough shod over innocent citizens or use the positions to which you appointed them to settle personal scores should, ordinarily, rankle you and cause you to intervene.

It should be more so as the substance of the matter has to do with the criticism of the personal life of a public officer by the Fourth Estate of the Realm, a practice that has come to be recognized as one of the components of a thriving democracy.

If a public officer cannot tolerate or stomach harsh criticisms, he has no business occupying public office.

It is in the light of the above we urge you to use your good offices to order an investigation into this crass display of power and indiscretion by the Inspector-General of Police and mete out appropriate sanctions against him, which may include the extreme step of relieving him of his position.

http://www.metronaija.ng/elombah-brothers-keyamo-asks-buhari-sanction-igp/

Shithole police

Awon wayre 100%

This IGP needs to be sacked.

You know Buhari would never do that.

Following

There was a country

I pray the guy is still alive and no damage is done to him. We are talking herdsmen oga IGP start his war simply some one criticized him so should we call this Poliherdsmen or Police-herdsmen or what


Hmmmm everybody just dey do anyhow.

Baba will not sack him


He's thinking of the next fulani to appoint sef.Meanwhile, Rochas is too silent now... Hmmmmmmm


Ndi imo, cattle colony is loading o... You'd soon see the statue and land mass.

Oo Soo festus so de alive..

Na when him see money him voice de comot....

This one Don affect keyamo

This one Don affect Keyamo

Dead on Arrival. BUHARI can do nothing!

Buhari?
Sack who?

lawless zooo


called nigeria

Display of high handedness indeed. The IGP is now the judge, jury and executioner.

this is yet another rape on our dear Democratic process. how do we survive this shit-hole name tag if we will keep on trampling on the right to freedom of speech?. why can't the malu they call IGP sue for libel. he rather will choose to be a war Lord using police (SARS at that) to intimidate and harass innocent blog. I am sure there's justification on that blog. that made the malu to get annoyed. I don't see how SARS or any shit hole STD or STF business in this. may God help us in this shit **le Naija. can't say it fully because PMB or national assembly will ask DSS to go and bring me.

Keyamo is now wailing? I feel for these guys... But I also heard they were part of the Sai baba in 2015...

I neverrexpected it...

Everybody is having a taste of this rougue... We should expect more this year... Where A PC members will be the most wailing... Isa misau, tunde bakare, dele momodu, keyamo, oby ezekwezeli, gov Orton, whether sani. And the names will keep coming dis year...

The police is your friend

Keyamo APC solicitor . Why are u Complaining .IGP is carrying out APC agenda.

The dullard cow rarer buhari cannot do anything to the cow idris he appointed to protect the killer cow rarers..

Saw Kassim Afegbua yesterday on Channels TV complaining bitterly about state of affairs in the country.
You would never have known that this man is a member of the APC!


Just a few parasitic governors are the ones egging Buhari on to his humiliation come 2019.

As for Keyamo, he is only earning his pay, as he is not any different from the BMCs here on NL.

Keyamo will U keep kwayet? Wen Mr Amadi's goat eats Mr. Amadi's yam, Mr Amadi shouldn't complain to anyone. Ur clients re d yam here, and the goat been d IGP has eaten APC yam, so we d wailers don't want to hear pim from U

Go, collect your PVC. Buhari cannot be declared president if he does not win a minimum of 25% in at least 24 States even if he turns in 1 billion votes from Kano.

Your own vote can deny him the needed 25% in your State.

Please, even if you have collected your PVC in your area of residence but are not sure you would be there during election (for those who usually travel to their States of origin during election), kindly go and transfer your PVC from your current State of residence to your State of origin so that you not only collect your PVC but that you put it to the effective use of removing this evil, wicked and murderous government from ruling over us beyond 2019.

The registration/transfer of PVC is ongoing at INEC offices near you, Monday - Saturday, 9am - 3pm daily.

There's no sacrifice too great to rescue our nation from the grip of evil men in power, if not for the sake of our generation, let's do it for the sake of our children and children's children

Lawlessness everywhere, the President Buhari I know can't condone all these... I don't understand

FrancisDiote:
Lawlessness everywhere, the President Buhari I know can't condone all these... I don't understand

You are right I think that was old Buhari not this one at the Aso Rock. I have be so disappointed in him if even he is naive in democracy but what about discipline as a rtd General in army and some bloody civilian around him behaving anyhow call themselves cabals it pains me like mad. Everybody just misbehaving anyhow, no fear as if he is nobody.

Sanity by officials under this Buhari Govt is an impossibility.

IGP na idiot!!

Mtcheeew. I thought the news was that Buhari sanctioned the IGP.


Keyamo is greedy, you can't get such a plea granted just beg the president to order the release of your clients. I rarely give this kind of advice.

The dullard won't do anything about it now rather he'll sit down digest the news first and then think about it before acting and by then the prsn might have been in critical condition

Analog president