Rights Group Frowns at Arbitrary Arrest, Detention of Melaye’s Security Detail 

By Yekini Jimoh in Lokoja

The National Coordinator Justice and Freedom Watch, Chief Segun Owoeye, has frowned at the arbitrary arrest and unlawful detention of Senator Dino Melaye’s orderly and his security detail by the police. 

 This was contained in a statement issued yesterday and made available to THISDAY in Lokoja.  

According to him,  the continued anti-Melaye script  just to silence him at all cost did not spare even the police  security men attached to him within the last two weeks and the display of lawlessness by the Nigerian Police. 

“Our attention has been brought to the arbitrary arrest and unlawful detention of police officers and orderly attached to the Chairman Senate committee on FCT and Kogi West senator, Dino Melaye. 

“Melaye’s orderly and policemen that were with him have been held in custody since April 23, 2018, on the others from above for no just reason. 

“We were all aware of the brutal invasion of  Melaye’s home in Abuja, where over 150 heavily armed fierce-looking policemen laid siege in his home. In the course of this display of force, a senior police officer came to Melaye’s home and arrested the policemen on duty in his house including his orderly without any offence or justified reason. 

“It will interest Nigerians and the entire world to know that Melaye’s orderly was supposed to have his ‘wedding engagement’ yesterday, (Saturday) but has been in detention since April 23, 2018, when they arrested him alongside other policemen.

 “He was denied completely the access to his family and to be his wife. This is a total mockery of our rule of law, human rights and constitutionalism.

 “For what could they have done that even Melaye’s orderly who was to have his wedding engagement yesterday, but police kept him in detention for no reason,” he stated.

He said: “Up till this moment, no single offence has been communicated to them to show cause of there arrest, no single official statement  has   been made from Police Force Headquarters, Abuja, or by FCT  police command, yet they were detained.”

The national coordinator added that desperation of the police under this government has demonstrated to  Nigerians that they meant to frontally clamp down on Melaye and every establishment around him under a supposed democratic government.  

His words: “In view of the continued detention of the those officers, we therefore, demand their immediate release from unlawful detention camp.

 “It is unacceptable, disgraceful and professionally deficient for police authorities to detain those officer who are only carrying out their official assignment without any valid justification or reason.  “They have been in detention now for 14 days, Melaye’s alleged offence shouldn’t have led to their arrest if the police respect the law of the land. 

“We call on the media, civil society organisations, NBA, Amnesty International, human rights partners and Nigerians to once again, rise up against this brazen lawlessness.”

Related Articles