Sunday Ani
Rights activist and Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Femi Falana, has appealed to President Muhammadu Buhari to intervene in the case involving 40 Nigerians allegedly being detained illegally by the Nigerian Navy.
In a letter to the president dated May 19, Falana wants the president to direct the Chief Naval Staff (CNS), Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ekwe Ibas, to either release the detainees from unlawful custody or arraign them in court without any further delay.
Falana said the request was sequel to complaints he received from the family members of the 40 Nigerians, who are being detained without trial on the orders of the authorities of the Nigerian Navy.
He listed the names of the detainees as Captain Dada Labinjo, Lt. Commander Sherifat Ibe Lambert, Benjamin Gold, Peter Pulle, Pius Paul, Onoja Reuben, Adeleke Adewale, Labinjo Kehinde, Ogunmoyero Oluwasehun, Emmanuel Oputa, Innocent Sunday, Iejoro Friday, Hamza Yakubu, Segun Yusuf, Master-Melvin Jack, Adebayo Mayoma, Francis Oneyema, Godwill Umoh, Bosin-Miebaka Iyala, Edu Fidelis, Richard David, Camp Boss-Daniel Harrison, Asaiki Okeoghene, Omogoye Bolaji, Victor Uchendu, Oloyede Ademola, Simon Onyisi Mike, Udom Victor Jerome, Godwin Etiaka Ojodusi, Sixtus Ganabel, Owei Ukuto, Jeremiah Victor, Collins Joel, Augustine Omonisa, MV Akemijo Deborah, Mike Simeon, Umoren Daniel, James Archibong, Umon Godswill Emmanuel and Adeline Jumbo.
Falana alleged that the detainees had been held incommunicado in dehumanising conditions for periods ranging from six to eight months.
“In fact, some of the detainees are incarcerated in an underground military detention facility in Abuja, while others are held inside one of the vessels impounded by the Nigerian Navy in Marina, Lagos. The detainees have been subjected to mental, psychological and physical torture, contrary to the provisions of the Anti Torture Act, 2017,” he stated.
He lamented that the authorities of the Nigerian Navy have defied valid and subsisting orders of competent courts for the unconditional release of some of the detainees.
“Apart from such contemptuous conduct, the Nigerian Navy recently denied knowledge of the whereabouts of the 15 detainees held in a detention facility in Abuja. As soon as we pointed out that the remand order procured by the naval authorities for the detention of the 15 detainees had been quashed by the Chief Magistrate Court in Apapa, Lagos State, the naval authorities turned round to file criminal charges against five of them before a Court Martial,” he said.