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| Musa Mohammed Awwal |
Statement by Chidi Anselm Odinkalu,
Chairman, National Human Rights Commission of Nigeria, on the continued
detention of Musa Mohammed Awwal and
Aliyu Saleh, journalists with Al-Mijan, Kaduna, by the State Security Service
(SSS).
The State Security Service (SSS) and
other security agencies in Nigeria are obligated to comply with the
Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in carrying out their important
duties. As a result, they should ensure the arraignment of the Al-Mizan
journalists presently in their custody, if investigations have disclosed their
complicity in any crimes or release them promptly. In the interim the SSS
should allow the detained journalists access to their families, medical
attention or other legal representatives.
This statement also transmits a request
and an offer to the SSS to allow the National Human Rights Commission access to
the detained journalists to independently verify their state of health and
conditions of detention.
On Friday, 21 December, Al-Mizan, a
Hausa language newspaper published in Kaduna, Nigeria, ran a story alleging
that operatives of the Joint Task Force (JTF) had rounded up 86 youths in
Potiskum, Yobe State. The story was also posted up on Al-Mizan’s website
www.almizan.info.
Around 04:00 hours on Monday, 24
December, two Al-Mizan workers, Musa Mohamed Awwal and Aliyu Saleh, were
respectively picked up and taken away by heavily armed security operatives from
their residences in Kaduna to undisclosed destinations. During the operation to
take them away, both men allegedly assaulted by the security operatives.
At the residence of Musa Mohamed Awwal,
his wife was also allegedly assaulted as she sought to find out the identities
and authority of those who came to take away her husband. An adult son, who
suffers from Sickle Cell and was also in the house at the time, was allegedly
also assaulted before Musa Mohammed Awwal was taken away.
From the residence of Musa Mohammed
Awwal, the security operatives allegedly took with them a lap-top computer and
eight cellular telephone hand-sets belonging to different members of his
family. From the residence of Aliyu Saleh, they also allegedly took away
cellular hand-sets.
The security operatives reportedly did
not identify themselves and did not directly accuse the two workers of any
crimes during the course of this operation to take them away.
On the same day, also in Kaduna,
another set of security operatives visited the residence of the Editor of
Al-Mizan, Ibrahim Musa, which was subsequently ransacked. Following the visit
by the security operatives, a lap-top computer and modem were allegedly found
missing, presumed to have been taken away by the security operatives.There was
no search warrant shown to anyone on the premises before or during this visit.
Ibrahim Musa remains in hiding.
Following these security operations,
the workers at Al-Mizan went around the various Police stations in Kaduna to
look for their colleagues. The Police denied holding them and sent around
signals seeking confirmation as to their whereabouts. The SSS in Kaduna State
subsequently confirmed that the operation had been undertaken by the SSS and
that the two workers had been transferred to the SSS headquarters in Abuja.
They have, however, not been granted access to anyone – family or other
representatives.
Sections 35(4)-(5) of the 1999
Constitution require all persons arrested by the security agencies to be
arraigned not later than 48 hours or within “such longer period as in the
circumstances may be considered by the court to be reasonable.” Under the
Constitution, any detention beyond 48 hours must be authorized by a court. The
constitution also requires humane treatment of detainees and suspects.
The continued detention of these two
journalists without information as to their whereabouts, crimes for which they
are suspected (if any), or conditions of their detention, does not pass
constitutional muster.
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