A civil rights group, Center Against Impunity in Nigeria (CAIN), called on President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday to take precedence over the Nigerian Navy to release some 22 Nigerians in their custody.
The center’s National Chairman, Shina Loremikan, made the call at a Lagos news conference.
He claimed the prisoners had been detained without trial for the past nine months, stating that their ongoing detention violated their fundamental human rights.
Mr Loremikan identified the prisoners as captain Dada Labinjo ; Lt. commander Sherifat Lambert ; Segun Yusuf ; Gold Benjamin ; Peter Pulle ; and Paul Pius.
He gave names of other detainees as Reuben Onoja, Adeleke Adewale, Kehinde Labinjo, Oluwaseun Ogunmoyero, Emmanuel Oputa, and Innocent Sunday.
Mr Loremikan added that Friday Lejoro, Hamza Yakubu, Melvin Jack, Francis Onyema, Adebayo Mayowa, Goodwill Umoh, Bosin Iyala, Edu Fidelis, Richard David and Daniel Harrison were also being held.
Mr Loremikan said Mr Labinjo and his wife were arrested at their residence in September 2018 and that the remaining prisoners who were subsequently detained were all his ship’s crew, “Adreline Jumbo.”
“All these persons are all Nigerians whose fundamental human rights as enshrined in the Constitution and the African Charter have been abused.
“And we are calling on President Muhammadu Buhari to prevail on authorities of the Nigeria Navy to disclose to Nigerians what their offences are or release them forthwith if there are no charges against them,” he said.
Mr Loremikan clarified that Mr Labinjo and his wife were Navy officers before they were “unlawfully dismissed.”
He claimed that at the Federal High Court, Lagos, the couple challenged their dismissal and that the court ordered their reinstatement in a judgment delivered on February 26.
Mr Loremikan added that the Navy had brought an appeal against the judgment at the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court and that the Navy had lost at both courts.
He asserted that they took what he described as impunity instead of the Navy to comply with the decision by detaining him and his spouse as well as his staff.
Mr Loremikan said the detainees were being transferred from one detention facility to another and that they had not been charged with formal charges.
The group coordinator added that they had refused access to family members and their lawyers, stating that their ongoing detention without trial is the height of impunity.
“We are not saying they should not be tried, if they have done any wrong. What we are saying is that the Navy should tell Nigerians the offence they have committed and prosecute them in line with the laws.
“The Navy can only arrest and not prosecute, therefore they should take them to court if they have a case them rather than illegally detaining them for nine months,” he said.
Mr Loremikan said the group thought the president was a defender of the rule of legislation and would intervene in the matter to save the detainees ‘ families from their agonies.
One of the detainees ‘ wife, Helen Yakubu, said things had been tough since her husband, Hamza Yakubu, was arrested.
The mom of four children said she had to bring her children to her mother as she could no longer take care of the children.
Mrs Yakubu said she did not object to her husband’s prosecution if he had done anything improper, but she observed that detaining him and others without trial was an act of impunity.
“I am calling on President Buhari to intervene in this matter. My husband is innocent and things have been difficult for the family.
“The Navy authorities should release my husband because he has done nothing wrong and if they think he has done anything wrong they should try him.
“He is the Chief Engineer of Adrenaline Jumbo and since he was arrested when he went to work, things have not been easy. The Navy should release him, he is innocent,’’ she said.
Yemi Yusuf, another detainee’s wife, Segun Yusuf, also said her husband called her out of work sometime last year that he was being detained.
She said the Navy officials had yet to inform her and kids about the offense that he had committed and that life was hard for her and that family.
“My husband was the Captain of the vessel, Adrenalin Jumbo. I have not seen him for months and things have been extremely hard for the family.
“President Buhari should please help us. We voted for democracy and rule of law, but what is being done to my husband is not something good at all.
“Whatever he may have done, they should charge him to court. And if they do not have anything against him they should please release him. We are suffering, the President should help us,” she said.
Femi Falana had written to Federal High Court Chief Judge Abuja, Justice Abdul Kafarati on Tuesday urging him to guarantee that civilians arrested in military installations across the nation were released without delay.
He said the Navy had ignored calls to release no fewer than 150 people arrested at its Lagos, Abuja, Warri and Port Harcourt facilities.
The lawyer said court orders for their release had been handled with disdain, stating that it is illegal and disdain to continue detaining those concerned.
