Activist Petitions IGP for Protection

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Comrade Femi Aborisade

Mr. Mohamed Dahiru Abubakar

The Inspector General of Police (IGP)

Nigeria Police Force (NPF)

Nigeria Police Force Headquarters

Louis Edet House

Area 11, Garki

Abuja

Dear Sir,

APPEAL FOR PROTECTION

I hereby appeal to the Nigeria Police Force for protection on the ground of persistent vicious attacks by armed men.

My family and I have been attacked twice, in barely one month – first, on 22 November at about or between 12.40am and 1.00am, and the second on 29 December 2012 at about or between the hours of 2.30am and 6.30am.

I reside at the Senior Staff official quarters at Number 69, Unity Road, The Polytechnic, Ibadan.

During the first armed attack, which took place on 22 November 2012, the armed men, numbering about five, broke the door and forcefully gained entry. They left cuts on me in the process of their attacks on me and my wife. They also took away my Ipad, laptop computer, laptop bag containing documents, cell phones, complimentary cards and cash, as well as my wife’s jewellery.

They threatened to take me to the bush to kill me, adding 'won lo lagidi', meaning 'they say you could be stubborn'. In my over 55 years of existence as a human being, I have used the greatest part of my conscious life stubbornly advocating and fighting for good governance based on socialist principles, in spite of cumulative years of detention and prison experiences, without trial - all based on public interest advocacy.

The second attack occurred on 29 December about or between the hours of 2.30am and 6.30am. The two security officers on duty at the security unit at the end of my quarters obviously fled for safety. Within seconds, the attackers appeared to have overpowered the two polytechnic security officers. Though the armed attackers did not break the door into pieces to gain entry unlike in the first time, intermittently, they were calling my name, saying 'Femi Jade' meaning 'Femi come out'. Their menacing presence was felt throughout the period stated. They were hitting objects waiting to hear scared voices or movement in order to perhaps determine my location or determine whether or not I was inside before making a move to break in.

They were saying to each other, 'He is still inside. He hasn't gone out'. According to officials at the Security Unit of The Polytechnic, Ibadan, the two security officers on duty at the security unit at the end of my quarters, reported that the armed men who came on 29 December were about eight (8).

As soon as the attackers arrived on 29 December, I called the telephone number of the Chief Security Officer of The Polytechnic, Ibadan. The number did not go through. I called the telephone number of the Control Room of the Security Department. As soon as I told them that armed men were around attacking my family, the connection appeared lost. This experience was similar during the first attack on 22 November when I called the telephone number of the Chief Security Officer (CSO); the line rang but there was no response.

I hereby appeal for police protection. I’m not a business man and I have never entered into business deals with anybody to suggest inter-personal acrimony. As a former Head of Department and lecturer in The Polytechnic, Ibadan, I have stood up against all manner of perceived injustice as it concerns both the academic and non-academic staff as well as students.

Consistent with my well known stance for intolerance of arbitrariness and negation of due process, I have been a loyal ASUP member, defending the best interest of the institution in all aspects, including its governance. I perform my duties diligently and within ethical principles. So, with the above background, and the persistent armed attacks on me and my family in my official quarters at the Polytechnic, Ibadan, the attacks can only be political, that is, attacks based on personal opinions I have expressed either on national public issues in the media and/or opinions expressed internally on internal developments at the general meeting of my union – ASUP and at the Board of Studies, as a member of that body by virtue of being a Senior Principal Lecturer (SPL).

Based on the foregoing, I hereby reiterate my call for protection. My life is under threat. But whatever happens, I would continue to advocate for good governance based on socialist principles until I breathe my last. The persecutions, arrests and solitary detention and imprisonment, without trial under Decree No. 2 of 1984 under military dictatorship couldn’t stop me.

The current vicious attacks will not deter me from identifying with the struggles and aspirations of ordinary people for good governance based on making the welfare of the poor and marginalized the central essence of governance at all levels.

Femi Aborisade

08023026222

aborisadefemi@gmail.com

Cc: National Human Rights Commission.