The Rule of Law and Accountability Advocacy Centre (RULAAC) has petitioned the General Officer Commanding, 81 Division of the Nigerian Army over the 3-month-long detention of a civilian, Jude Eze Ibe at the Dodan Barracks in Lagos .
RULAAC, in the petition signed by Okechukwu Nwanguma, the Executive Director of the group, said Ibe had been illegally detained at the cell on the orders of the Commandant of the military police, Brigadier-General M.L Abubakar.
Ibe was reportedly arrested and detained in connection with some desert
boots retrieved from a shop at the Army Market, Oshodi (Arena),
according to his wife's account.
Trouble started when the military police visited 'Arena' on March 5 to recover debts from someone in the market.
According
to Amarachi, the wife of the detained person, the military personnel
sighted some desert boots which Ibe had kept in his neighbour's shop
because his shop was filled with goods recently imported from China.
Upon
sighting the boot, the military personnel seized the goods, ordering
Ibe to report to their office the following day. He obeyed, visiting
alongside a friend and sales attendant.
However, they were detained on allegations of supplying boots used by members of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).
She
said the other men were however released two weeks after while her
husband remained in detention on the excuse that he had not obtained a
license before involving in the sale of the boots.
Amarachi
called for the immediate release of her husband, stating that his
continued detention has affected his ailing father. She added that her
husband was also hypertensive as she expressed concerns over his health.
The
petition from RULAAC urged the GOC 81 Commander to ensure Ibe's
immediate release and ensure appropriate disciplinary actions are taken
against the officers who illegally detained the businessman.
The
petition reads, “Rule of Law and Accountability Advocacy Centre
(RULAAC) writes to bring to your attention and to seek your intervention
to order the immediate release of Mr. Jude Eze Ibe, a civilian
businessman who trades in footwear at the Army Market Oshodi known as
'Arena' and has been detained at the Dodan Barracks VI for over 3 months
allegedly on the orders of the Commandant of the Military Police,
Brigadier- General M.L Abubakar.
“Mrs. Favour Amarachi Ibe, the
wife of the detained businessman, informed us that her husband was
arrested by some military police personnel on March 5, 2022, and has
been detained at Dodan Barracks over some boots they saw and impounded
from his shop. She informed us that her husband sells 'rubber palm
slippers’ (flip flops) at the 'Arena'.
“According to Mrs. Ibe,
the military police personnel had come to the 'Arena' to recover debts
allegedly owned a Chinese by her husband's neighbour in the market. They
saw some boots in the neighbour's shop which she said her husband had
given to him to keep for him in his shop because his own shop was filled
with goods he had just imported from China.
“She said her
husband kept 77 pairs of Desert Boots in the shop of the man that the
military police personnel came to arrest and they saw and took the boots
and asked him to report at their office.
“He reported and was
locked up by the military police, alongside his friend and sales boy who
accompanied him. They released them the next day and asked them to
report again the next day with her husband. They reported again on the
7th of March 2022 and were informed that 'they got a call from Abuja
that they should hand them over to 81 Div. Ikoyi.
“They took them to Dodan Barracks. Two weeks after, they let his friend and the other boy go, and my husband is still detained.”
According
to Mrs. Ibe, “they have done all the necessary investigations and said
they saw nothing, but the investigating officer said that the ‘Oga’
(boss) is tagging him the person supplying IPOB boots”.
She said the only basis for tagging him supplier of boots to IPOB is simply because he is an Igbo man.
“We
are not aware that the military police are a debt recovery agency. They
have been with his phone. They have also come to their shop and saw
nothing implicating. They have not established any link between the
detained man and IPOB except that he is an Igbo man.
“He was arrested because of the Desert Boots, about 20 pairs of which are camouflage.”
“According
to further information from Mrs. Ibe, the detaining officers are saying
he is supposed to get a licence before selling the boots. She said the
boots are not actually in her husband's line of business, only that he
stumbled on them while buying goods in China and felt they could sell
since he trades within the army market.
“She added that the
boots are expired, which is why since 2020 till date, no one agreed to
buy them. Mrs. Ibe has visited several times to secure the release of
her husband to no avail. She informs us that her husband is the only son
of his parents and the sole breadwinner.
“His prolonged and
unlawful detention has denied his aged father the medical attention he
urgently needs. He himself is also in need of urgent medical attention.
He is hypertensive and his wife is seriously concerned about how he is
faring in health. She demands that her husband be released immediately.
“They could at worst have handed him over to the police if they believe he has committed any offence under the law.
“RULAAC
requests you to order his immediate release and ensure appropriate
disciplinary actions against the officers who illegally detained him as
well as involving themselves in debt recovery.”
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