Civil Society Groups Demand Immediate Release of Deji Adeyanju
By Bennett Oghifo
The arrest of Prince Deji Adeyanju, yesterday, by the police for his planned mobilisation of Nigerians to rally against the secret trial and detention of Nnamdi Kanu, the IPOB leader, will spell doom for the nation, civil society groups have said.
A statement by the groups said Adeyanju, the Convener of Concerned Nigerians, a Pro-Democracy group, had organised the Pro-Nnamdi Kanu rally scheduled to take off at the Unity Fountain, Abuja, yesterday, to call the attention of the world to what it called “the serial injustices and acts of brutality meted out to the leader of the IPOB group by the tyrannical government of the day.”
The statement signed by the Convener of the Movement for the Advancement of National Transformation (MANTRA), Comrade Jude Ndukwe, on behalf of other civil society groups, said, “Following the urgent nature of the issue on ground, I have the mandate of over 50 civil society groups to make the following statement following the illegal arrest of one of us by the police.
“We have just heard of the arrest of Prince Deji Adeyanju, Convener of Concerned Nigerians, over his organisation of a peaceful rally tagged #FreeNnamdiKanu which was meant to, once again, bring the attention of the world to the many inhuman treatments which the despotic government of Muhammadu Buhari has subjected the IPOB leader to including the secret trial he is forced to pass through.
“Without much ado, we urgently and strongly demand that Mr. Adeyanju be released immediately or this government which has so shamelessly descended into brazen fascism and tyranny in a supposed democratic dispensation will have the wrath of a resolute coalition of civil society organisations to contend with. This nonsense has got to stop!”
The civil society groups said, “The wanton arrests, detention and or even killing of journalists, bloggers, human rights and political activists and opponents, religious adherents etc, by this government has got to its height and we have to put an end to it now. We can no longer afford to continue to fold our arms while a very tiny fraction of our society, as represented by the police and the military, stifles us and deny us our inalienable rights.
“This government should be ready to face a flurry of furious protests capable of shutting government activities down if Deji Adeyanju and all those arrested with him are not released immediately.”
They noted that the cause for which Deji was arrested was a just one, adding “Nnamdi Kanu has no reason to be subjected to any secret trial and other deliberate humiliations from Muhammadu Buhari and his whimsical servants while notorious and murderous Boko Haram and Fulani herdsmen terrorists are given kingly treatments and even paid compensations for murdering fellow Nigerians who do not share the same religion and ethnicity with those in power.
“We have been in the trenches with Deji for some time now. We organised the Anti-Social Media Bill rally. It was peaceful. We organised the #IstandWithNigeria rally. It was peaceful. We organised the pro-Amnesty International Rally. It was peaceful. We organised a rally to warn the executive to stop undermining the legislative arm of government. It was also peaceful, and many more.”
They described Adeyanju as a peaceful activist, saying none of the rallies he called or participated in had ever gone violent, wondering why he was arrested, “if not that this government is deliberately on the path of incurring the wrath of civil society groups?”
“We are watching and warning. The keg of gunpowder upon which this nation has been sitting since the inglorious second coming of Buhari is about to go off. Free Prince Deji Adeyanju now or face the consequences.”
