LAWJII, HURSDEF, CLO, CRC Condemn Abuse Of Court Process Over Ikechi-Jeff, Brother’s Continued Detention
For what they described as abuse of court process, arrest and continued detention of Geoffrey Ikechi-Jeff and Ekele Onuah, the Lawyers Watch For Justice International Initiative (LAWJII), Human Rights, Social Development and Environmental Foundation, HURSDEF, Civil Liberties Organization (CLO) and the Civil Rights Council, (CRC) have demanded the immediate release of the duo, whom they alleged have been unlawfully detained by the police since February 17,2020, against an earlier order for them to be released by higher authorities.
In a joint press release, the rights group alleged that Geoffrey Ikechi-Jeff was first arrested and detained at Elele Police Divisional Headquarters on September 9, 2019,before their joint arrest in February,2020 and being taken to “Abuja at the instance of one Dandison O. Onuah Christian Ile and their cohorts fort daring to accept the request by the Onuah family of Ubima, Rivers State for Geoffrey Ikechi-Jeff to represent them as the Community Liaison Officer (CLO) to All Grace Energy Limited/West Order Oil and Gas Limited (Joint Venture)”
The human rights bodies also enumerated series of unlawful arrest and detention of the victims, leading to transfer of their case and another arrest and detention in Force Headquarters in Abuja, their remand at Keffi Prison in Karu LGA in Nasarawa State, before the current transfer of the matter to the State Criminal Investigation Department ,SCID on 21 Match.
The group alleged that the duo were again about to be transferred back to Abuja “despite the shutdown by the government of Rivers State ” occasioned by the coronavirus pandemic.
The release by leaders of the rights groups called for the “immediate release of Geoffrey Ikechi-Jeff and Ekele Onuah and for the concerned police officers from Abuja to be called to order.”
The joint statement decried in stronger terms alleged “abuse of court process and lack of due diligence in the investigation of this case by the Nigeria Police Force, calling on the Rivers State Commissioner of Police, the National Human Rights Commission, Civil Society Organizations and all well meaning Nigerians to promptly intervene in this issue, and ensure the justice of the case.”
At a separate interview, Barrister Gbenga Oladapo of the Lawyers Watch For Justice International Initiative, LAWJII stated further that the police were expected to respect the rule of law by arraigning their victims in court. He also cautioned that when a matter appeared before the court of law, the court process should be allowed to run its full course without police intervention. He also condemned the development that warranted the matter to be moved to Nassarawa, saying that, “Jeff had no business being reminded in Nassarawa, the matter took place in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.”
