107 Obigbo Residents Abducted By Army Freed, Five DiedAfter Over Nine Months In Secret Custody
Intersociety, Nigeria: Wednesday, 11th August 2021: The Int’l Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law is gladly announcing the release of 107 of the 112 defenseless and unarmed residents of Obigbo in Rivers State. Their release followed a Court bail granted to them a week or two ago and perfection of their bail conditions. The 107 mostly Igbo Christian citizens of Obigbo residency have also successfully rejoined their families and other loved ones over nine months after they were waylaid by soldiers of the Nigerian Army on their way back from work or going to work and other legitimate social activities and abducted and disappeared.
The Nigerian Army, dominated and controlled by Northern Muslims, had on 21st Oct 2020 invaded the Obigbo part of Rivers State following the State-wide broadcast by Governor Nyesom Wike who hastily and maliciously accused the Indigenous People of Biafra of masterminding the EndSARS protests in the State that led to death of dozens of civilians and security personnel and destruction of some public properties. The Governor had played into the hands of the lopsidedly composed Nigerian Army which cashed in on his broadcast to lay the area under siege and go on killing spree leading to the death of not less than 102 civilians in two months, during which no fewer than 550 were abducted and private properties worth hundreds of millions of naira burnt or destroyed.
With the release of 107 Obigbo abductees in addition to release on 29/30th June 2021 of 26 others held by DSS and previous release of a total 283 other abductees; a total of 416 of the 550 abductees have been freed through various Court bails. In other words, not less than 134 are still not independently located and are still languishing in secret military custodies, only known to the Nigerian Army. It must be remembered that till date, the authorities of the Nigerian Army have kept mute over the abductions and disappearances; refusing to speak on why they were abducted and held in captivity for almost ten months without trial. Intersociety had in its statement of 6th July 2021 released names of the 112 abductees including the four (now five in number) that died.
Sadly, among those 112 abductees, secretly held at the Nigerian Army’s Alpha Military Commando Base in Suleja, Niger State, five have lost their lives; namely: Thomas Ekwueme, Pius Onochie, Obinna Akapuru, Monday Ifeanyi and Tobechukwu Odoka. May their souls rest in peace and endlessly torment their captors and killers in pieces!
Attached below in table format are their names with their photos taken immediately after their release in Suleja-Abuja.
For: International Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law
Principal Officers: Emeka Umeagbalasi, Obianuju Igboeli, Esq., Chidimma Udegbunam, Esq.
Contacts: Phone/WhatsApp: +2348174090052, Email: [email protected] , Web: intersociety-ng.org