DSS arresting our members who visited Nnamdi Kanu in prison---IPOB

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*Nnamdi Kanu

(Nigeria) The leadership of Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, worldwide has condemned what it called arbitrary arrest and detention of its members without trial by Federal Government of Nigeria and Department of State Services, DSS, noting it was a plot to secretly eliminate its leader, Mr Nnamdi Kanu and other members, who were arrested after visiting him (Kanu) in Kuje prison Abuja.

It also expressed fear that most of their members, who were allegedly arrested by the DSS, have not been seen by the family members or in any way communicated with them, fuelling  suspicion that they may have been killed extra judicially in the custody of  DSS.
IPOB in a statement by its Media and Publicity Secretary, Mr. Emma Powerful, alleged that “the DSS has steadfastly refused to present those they kidnapped in the name of keeping Nigeria one to court of law.
“So many Biafrans are in the custody of DSS, some have been there for the past seven months without formal charges being brought against them. Nobody has seen, heard or communicated with them, even their family members have not seen or discuss with any of them till date.
“The abduction and detention of Mazi Bright Chimezie, who was kidnapped at Akwa Ibom, Mr. Justice Ude, kidnapped in Igweocha Rivers State, Ekene Onuoha, Ikechukwu Ugwuoha, Sunday Okafor, Asochukwu Boniface, Moses Agbo, who were all arrested at Osisioma in Aba, Abia State after visiting our leader Mazi Nnamdi Kanu in Kuje Prison Abuja, and since then these innocent men are still at DSS underground detention cells at their headquarters in Abuja, dead or alive we cannot explain.
“We are asking all men and women of good conscience to rise up to demand from President Muhammadu Buhari and his Mr. Lawal Daura of DSS, why they have refused to charge Biafrans in their custody to court.
“According to our intelligence report, we have uncovered plans for the elimination of IPOB family members in DSS custody starting with those in Abuja. We reliably gathered that there is a plan to secretly eliminate our leader Mr.Nnamdi Kanu, and the reason is that the Federal Government is confused to continue with his case and they are ashamed to just let him go, with the feeling that the public will blame them for keeping him so long and not continuing with his case.
“We have it from a reliable source that those killed will be disposed of secretly, we are however, appealing to the Federal Government to swallow their pride and release our leader and director of radio Biafra, as he is not bothered about the length of his detention,  what is bothering him is how to achieve the actualization of Biafra without shading any blood.
“If the information in our disposal is not correct, we wonder why the Buhari led Federal Government and his DSS will still be holding our members without taking them to court or allowing them any communication with their family members, when they did not commit any offence except visiting our leader in prison.
“We are worried that the Federal Government has eliminated them and trying to cover up so that the world will not know, if they have not been eliminated, let them allow their family members access to them so that they can be confirmed alive.
“The Federal Government has connived with Attorney General of the Federation and Chief Judge of the Abuja High Court to delay the hearing of our application in the courts challenging the validity of their detention without trial for the world to know what is happening, as all efforts to ascertain if they are alive or not has failed so far because the judges handling their case file keeps adjourning the case anytime it comes up for hearing.
“Initially, the DSS in their court papers accepted that the men were in their custody, but the judges for whatever reason best known to the judiciary in Nigeria have consistently failed to compel DSS to produce them.
“With this, we are calling on all relevant institutions in the world, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, all men and women of conscience around the globe to persuade the Nigeria government and her security agencies, particularly the DSS to please release the dead bodies of our members to us, if they have been killed, for proper burial as custom demands in our land.”

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