Abaribe Arrested for Allegedly Aiding and Abetting IPOB, Says Lawyer

  • As IPOB, HURIWA kick

By Deji Elumoye and Senator Iroegbu in Abuja and David-Chyddy Eleke in Awka

The Counsel of detained member of the National Assembly, Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe, Mr. Chukwuma-Machukwu Ume, SAN, has said his client was picked up by operatives of the Department of State Security (DSS) for allegedly aiding and abetting the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).

Addressing a news conference yesterday in Abuja, Ume claimed he got to know about Abaribe’s offence when the DSS operatives stormed his client’s residence on Friday evening.

He said, “When the security operatives shortly after arresting Abaribe at forenoon on Friday stormed his Apo residence to conduct some search, I specifically requested to know if they have a search warrant and they answered in the affirmative.

“At that point, they showed me a search warrant signed by one Magistrate Kutigi and on the warrant it was written that my client was arrested for allegedly aiding and abetting the proscribed Independent People of Biafra, IPOB.”

According to him, the operatives refused to give him a copy of the search warrant but only went ahead to do a thorough house search from 5pm to 11.30pm during which everything in the house was turned upside down.

“They claimed to be searching for arms and ammunition at my client’s house with him in attendance, but at the end of their search no arm or ammunition or Ghana-Must-Go bag was found there. “What they succeeded in finding in the House were only 23 items including three laptops and phones which were all documented and signed for by the leader of the operatives. They refused to release the laptops one of which contained question paper for an examination to be taken on Monday and the phones; one of which belongs to an American citizen.”

He said the security operatives had denied him and his client’s doctor access to him up till Saturday morning, adding that “we made efforts for us to see my client because he needs to have access to his drugs but we were turned back. So, as we speak, he remains incommunicado.”

Ume emphasised that he would approach the court “if by Monday my client is not released to press for the enforcement of his fundamental rights.”

He also said his client who stood surety for Nnamdi Kali, leader of outlawed IPOB at an Abuja High Court is expected to be in court at the next hearing of the case on Tuesday, June 26, adding, “but with this arrest I will have to inform the court about his arrest.”

Ume warned government not to stifle opposition “because I believe my client is being hunted because of his opposing views like other Senators like Dino Melaye, Shehu Sani who have been critical of the policies of the present administration.”

In a related development, IPOB has called on the British government, which it referred to as the creator of Nigeria, to call the Nigerian government, headed by President Muhammadu Buhari to order.

IPOB said the call was necessitated by the recent arrest of Abaribe, insisting that the action was capable of causing disaffection in Nigeria.

A press release signed and circulated by the media and publicity secretary of the group, Mr. Emma Powerful, stated that the arrest of Abaribe was unacceptable, and capable of igniting ethnic sentiment.

“As the uncontested and rightful owners of Nigeria, which they single handedly created, Britain must as a conscientious democracy and matter of urgency ask the Islamic Republic of Nigeria to release Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe without further delay.”

IPOB however said Abaribe might have been arrested because he was alleged to be harbouring the IPOB leader, Kanu. It also added that another possible reason the DSS came for Abaribe was his recent alarm over the smuggling of N30 billion into the 2018 budget, for the power sector.

The group lamented that instead of making clarifications on the issue, the government resorted to intimidating and shutting him up.

It said the tolerance level of the masses has reached a breaking point, and that the government needed to be called to order as Abaribe could not be arrested in the manner DSS did “because there are laid down procedures and rules for inviting a sitting Senator to submit him or herself for any form of investigation by any security agency.”

Meanwhile, the Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) has asked world leaders to demand an end to what it described as a vicious crackdown by President Buhari of political opposition.

This is against the backdrop of recent arrests of the erstwhile governor of Benue State Mr. Gabriel Suswam and Senator Abaribe by the operatives of the DSS.

The rights group has also demanded that “the DSS must give access to lawyers of the political detainees even as they must be charged to competent court of law within 24 hours if there is any charge at all, in line with the rule of law and the provisions of the Nigerian constitution, or free them unconditionally and immediately.”

HURIWA in a statement issued by the National Coordinator Emmanuel Onwubiko and the National Media Affairs Director, Miss Zainab Yusuf lamented that the current administration was transforming itself into a brutal dictatorship.

The group charged Nigerians to defend the country’s democracy and stop it from being demolished by the incumbent.

HURIWA condemned the tendency of the presidency to ridicule the legislature and the use of brute force and subtle threats to blackmail the judiciary into an uncomfortable compromise and silence as against the unambiguous provisions of the constitution in section 4, 5 and 6 which states that as a constitutional democracy, Nigeria must run a check and balance system.

HURIWA cited copiously from the Nigerian Constitution to derive legitimacy of her absolute condemnation of the destructive clampdown by Security forces of political opposition.

The Rights group also frowned on the arrest of Abaribe and noted that his arrest may also not be unconnected with his constant criticism of the President Muhammadu Buhari administration. It also recalled that the DSS arrested Suswam over alleged security issues in his home state.

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