ON FEBRUARY 18, 2021

By Ikechukwu Odu

At least 63 residents of Obigbo in Rivers State have regained their freedom after four months in different security personnel dungeons in Abuja.

The residents who were rendered incommunicado throughout their period of captivity were freed following the consideration of a bail application filed on Wednesday, 10th February, 2021 before an Abuja Grade 11 Magistrate Court sitting in Wuse by a human rights lawyer, Barr. E.R Okoroafor.

This was contained in a statement made available to Vanguard by an Onitsha-based human rights group, the International Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law, Intersociety, on Thursday.

According to the statement which was signed by the rights group’s Chairman of Board of Trustees, Emeka Umeagbalasi, and other principal officers, 53 other residents have been located in the DSS dungeons while searches are on to trace and free the remaining 140 others who were part of the 400 law-abiding residents of Obigbo while they were going about their lawful businesses between October and November, 2020.

Part of the statement reads “The International Society for Civil Liberties & Rule of Law-INTERSOCIETY is happily announcing another major breakthrough in its campaigns to expose and end a booklet of atrocity crimes that have ravaged the Nigerian Army particularly under the immediate past Chief of Army Staff, Lt Gen Tukur Yusuf Buratai.

This time, the major breakthrough recorded was the release on Monday, 15th Feb 2021 of 63 Obigbo residents, all males.

They were reportedly detained by the Nigerian Army at Obigbo in Rivers State and held incommunicado for four months or since Oct 2020 in Mogadishu Barracks and other security dungeons in Abuja.

“Their release followed the landmark consideration of their bail application filed on Wednesday, 10thFeb 2021 before an Abuja Grade 11 Magistrate Court sitting in Wuse.

“They were freed from four different Army, DSS and Police dungeons in Abuja and environs; namely: Mogadishu Army Barracks, Annex B at Asokoro, DSS Training Center at Central Business District and its abandoned facility at Zuba and the Nigeria Police College at Suleja in Niger State.

“The freed victims were part of over 400 innocent and defenceless Obigbo residents including over 60 girls and young women detained between Oct and Nov 2020 at their workplaces or on their way home from work or while engaging in other lawful social activities.

“The release of the 63 residents was made possible through the lawyerly and activist doggedness of Barr E.R. Okoroafor. Barr E.R. Okoroafor is a British citizen of Igbo nativity and international human rights lawyer.

“The efforts of the leadership of IPOB in this respect are also worthily recognized and appreciated.

“While it is hopeful that the newly located 53 young women in the DSS dungeons will soon regain their freedom, bringing the total number of the located or freed to 261; searches are still on to locate the remaining residents numbering over 140.

“This is owing to the fact that the Nigerian Army and DSS have refused to speak publicly on the whereabouts of the residents, the freed ones and why the over 400 residents were in the first place kept out of public knowledge till date.”

thebosstrevor1:
You wont be detained if you are not a criminal or a potential threat

AmbaliJ:
Smh. How can Wike detain that many innocent Igbos in Rivers for 4 good months, and ibo people are quiet?? Yet they are all over the Internet calling for protest at Lekki tollgate? What stops ibos from going to protest in Rivers and shutting down the state in support of their detained Igbos? No o. Dem sabi say Wike-the-wicked no dey look Uche face. But if na Lagos matter, dem go find their voices.

November1857:
Typical fulani muslim ! How many marauding fulani Herdsmen that is busy going killing spree across the south and mildle belt has your nepotistic and bias security agencies detain !

Akiara:
FOR LAGOS...YOU BE STAKE HOLDER? IF DEM ASK WHERE YOU DEY LIVE NA IGANDO..OKOKOMAIKO,BADAGRY,MUSHIN ETC....IGBO DON TURN YOU TENANT INSIDE YOUR OWN HOUSE.

IGBO DEY LAGOS DEY EXCEL
FULANI DEY INSIDE BUSH DEY PERFORM

THIS YORUBA OP DEY ONLINE DEY LAMENT.... GUY GO LOOK FOR GRAVE TO DIG...

Skyfornia:


Oga, lagos is for everybody, it is our resources they used in developing lagos. Stop talking as if lagos is for a particular tribe...even the tribe that claims lagos belong to them, majority of them don't pay taxes. They don't even have any source of income apart from begging and touting..

November1857:
Typical fulani muslim ! How many marauding fulani Herdsmen that is busy going killing spree across the south and mildle belt has your nepotistic and bias security agencies detain !

AmbaliJ:


Can you ibo people forget Lagos for once in your pitiful lives, and focus on how to get your brothers being tortured at the behest of Wike, freed from the Abuja dungeons? Dem take Lagos swear for una??, Una go turn a blind eye to what is happening to your people in the East and start obsessing over Lagos. E be like say dem don swear for all of una.

AmbaliJ:


Can you ibo people forget Lagos for once in your pitiful lives, and focus on how to get your brothers being tortured at the behest of Wike, freed from the Abuja dungeons? Dem take Lagos swear for una??, Una go turn a blind eye to what is happening to your people in the East and start obsessing over Lagos. E be like say dem don swear for all of una.

AmbaliJ:
Smh. How can Wike detain that many innocent Igbos in Rivers for 4 good months, and ibo people are quiet?? Yet they are all over the Internet calling for protest at Lekki tollgate? What stops ibos from going to protest in Rivers and shutting down the state in support of their detained Igbos? No o. Dem sabi say Wike-the-wicked no dey look Uche face. But if na Lagos matter, dem go find their voices.

thebosstrevor1:
You wont be detained if you are not a criminal or a potential threat

Vanguard looks like a IPOB Media, they only know how to print lies.

Lets not forget, this people were arrested in Rivers state and then moved to Abuja, this shows that many of those released on bail were potential threat to the army, the police and dss.

IamFINESSE:
MNK FC

thebosstrevor1:
You wont be detained if you are not a criminal or a potential threat

Vanguard looks like a IPOB Media, they only know how to print lies.

Lets not forget, this people were arrested in Rivers state and then moved to Abuja, this shows that many of those released on bail were potential threat to the army, the police and dss.

thebosstrevor1:
You wont be detained if you are not a criminal or a potential threat

Vanguard looks like a IPOB Media, they only know how to print lies.

Lets not forget, this people were arrested in Rivers state and then moved to Abuja, this shows that many of those released on bail were potential threat to the army, the police and dss.