Nigerian Court Frees Anambra Youth Leaders Detained By Police For Over 2 Months Over Bush Clearing
Since their arrests, the police neither charged them nor release them on bail despite appeals from Nsugbe Council of Elders that they should be released since they committed no offence.
A Federal High Court in Awka, the Anambra State capital has granted bail to the two youth leaders of Nnadi Nsugbe community who were arbitrarily detained for over two months by the Nigeria Police Force.
The two youth leaders - Chidi Akudo and Charles Obodoechina -were arrested on November 13, 2022, by operatives of the Anambra command of the state allegedly on the orders of one Senator Alphonsus Igbeke aka Ubanesse.
SaharaReporters learnt that since their arrests, the police neither charged them nor release them on bail despite appeals from Nsugbe Council of Elders that they should be released since they committed no offence.
It had been reported that hundreds of women and youths of the community protested on Tuesday against police’s continued detention of their children and leaders without any justification.
They decried that the “offence” of the two youth leaders was that they obeyed the instructions of the community to clear bushes along the power line that brought electricity to the community after a two-year blackout “so that our people can celebrate the Christmas and New Year with light.”
They had in a Save-Our-Soul (SOS) sent to SaharaReporters, stated that the decision to clear bushes along the power line that brought electricity to the community came after their youths living in the Diaspora contributed money to pay Enugu Electricity Distribution PLC to restore power to the community.
They felt that since the community was without electricity for two years, it was wise to clear the bushes that had already encroached around and on electric poles.
The community said they were surprised that while the youths were clearing the bushes along the electricity line, some thugs allegedly used by Ubanesse and policemen from 3-3 Police Station swooped on them and injured some.
One of the community elders said, “While most of them escaped, Ubanesse's thugs grabbed the two leaders of the youth and handed them over to the policemen which the Senator brought.
“They were first detained at 3-3 police station for three days before transferring them to State Criminal Investigation Department in Awka. Till today, these boys have not been granted bail or charged to court. What is their offence? The police said that Senator Igbeke ordered that they should be charged for vandalising EEDC property.
“The youths did not vandalise EEDC property. We have tried everything possible to bail them out, but Ubanesse uses his connection to intimidate us.
“After transferring them to the State CID, our elders and women visited the commissioner of police to seek the release of those boys but instead they were referred to the deputy commissioner of police in charge of the state criminal investigation department. The deputy commissioner has refused to release our youths despite several appeals. He has also refused to charge them to court either because Senator Igbeke hasn’t directed so.”
SaharaReporters also reported that following its report, the deputy commissioner of police in charge of the State Criminal Investigation Department in December went after courts that had gone for Christmas vacation to allegedly obtain a backdoor order to detain the duo beyond December.
It also reported that after the community petitioned the Inspector General of Police and officers from the IGP Monitoring Unit came to take the file to Abuja. The said DCP lied to the officers by telling them that the case had been charged to court.
Sequel to the continued detention of the youth leaders, the community approached the Federal High Court, Awka division to order their release.
When the case came up on Tuesday, SaharaReporters gathered, the presiding judge, Justice Nganjiwa Hyeladzira Ajiya scolded the police in Anambra state, describing the arbitrary detention of the community youth leaders for 67 days without arraignment or valid court order to do so as criminal and a show of arrogance.
Justice Ajiya consequently granted them bail and adjourned to March 18, 2023; and ordered police to file their charge if they have any case against the duo.
-sahara reporters
