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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