AKHRC Petitions Buratai Over Custody of Akwa Ibomite


By UbongAbasi Ise

Lt-Gen. Tukur  Buratai, the Nigerian Chief of Army Staff has received a petition from the Akwa Ibom Human Rights Community, AKHRC, requesting for unconditional  release of Capt. Iniobong Ekong (rtd).
The AKHRC, in a letter addressed to the Chief of Army Staff at the Nigerian Army Headquarters in Abuja and signed by its coordinator, Barr. Clifford Thomas, said it got information that the army authorities in Rivers State, the 6 Brigade recently invited Captain Iniobong Ekong (Rtd) to the Brigade headquarters in Port Harcourt, and he was arrested on honouring the invitation on February 22, 2019.
According to the letter, “The AKHRC got information that the army authorities in Rivers State, the 6 Brigade recently invited Captain Iniobong Ekong (Rtd), a peaceful and law-abiding Nigerian citizen of Akwa Ibom extraction, to the Brigade headquarters in Port Harcourt. And on honouring this invitation on the 22nd day of February, 2019; he was promptly arrested and detained.
“Efforts by his family members, lawyers or doctors to reach are reported to have proved abortive. It must be appreciated that as a civilian, private and law-abiding citizen, his fundamental rights are guaranteed by the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, particularly, Chapter IV, and the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights, as domesticated in Nigeria.”
The human rights body stated that holding Mr. Iniobong Ekong beyond the statutorily required time is not only a violation of the Constitution and other extant laws, it also makes Nigeria an offending state actor in the international community, having agreed to uphold, respect and implement these international human rights instruments.
AKHRC said the proper approach that could have been undertaken by the military was to arraign Mr. Ekong in court if found anything against him, while asking the security agency to release him for his family.
“Should the army authorities have anything against him, the army should bring up a proper charge, and arraign him in a regular court of the land. He honoured the invitation as a free citizen of this country. The Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999, as amended, recognizes and guarantees the rights of the person of Capt. Iniobong Ekong. It must be appreciated that as a creation of the Constitution, the Nigerian Army must respect the Constitution and allied statutes that enhance the real purport of the Constitution.
“ The Akwa Ibom Human Rights Community in alliance with other national human rights organizations, demand that the Nigerian Army authority release Captain Iniobong Ekong. He is a father, brother, son, faithful community leader, employer of labour, and patriotic citizen who promotes the socio-economic and cultural rights of persons at all levels,” the letter reads.

©The Sensor Newspaper

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