Founder of Stanbic IBTC Bank plc, Atedo Peterside, and other people have called on the Federal Government to release all detainees in Nigeria being currently held against court orders demanding their release.The call came against the backdrop of the order by the government, Tuesday, for the release of Omoyele Sowore, convener of #RevolutionNow protest, who had been in detention since August, and Sambo Dasuki, National Security Adviser to former President Goodluck Jonathan, detained since 2015.
Both men were released late Tuesday. Sowore was accused of treason and money laundering while Dasuki, a retired Army Colonel, was accused by the government of diverting security votes to the former ruling party, People’s Democratic Party. There had been court orders for their release, which the government had disregarded.
“Yes, FG must release all others who were granted bail by courts, including El-Zakzaky, the Shiite leader. Others being detained illegally without trial anywhere in Nigeria must also be released. I will celebrate only when ALL are free,” Peterside, who is also founder and chairman, ANAP Business Jets Ltd, president and founder, ANAP Foundation, Promoting Good Governance in Africa, tweeted on Wednesday, December 25, via his Twitter handle, @AtedoPeterside.
The release of Sowore and Dasuki came four days after the United States Secretary of State Michael Pompeo in a statement said America had placed Nigeria on a Special Watch List along with other countries for engaging in or tolerating severe violations of religious freedom.
Ibrahim El-Zakzaky, leader of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN) or the Shiites, has been in detention since 2015 December following a clash between members of the sect and Nigerian Army in the northern state of Kaduna.
The clash left at least 348 IMN members and a soldier dead, with IMN members buried in a mass grave, the US Department of State said in its report. It alleged that the Nigerian government did not honour its commitments to ensure accountability for soldiers implicated in the December 2015 clash. There had been previous clashes between members of the sect and the Nigerian Army, the report noted.
But in a statement by Minister of Information and Culture Lai Mohammed on Sunday, December 22, the government rejected the religious violation tag by the US, insisting that “the good people of Nigeria enjoy unfettered freedom to practise their religion”.
“On the El-Zakzaky issue, which was referred to in the report by the US government, he described it as purely a criminal matter, which is being handled by a court of competent jurisdiction,” the government said.
El-Zakzaky continues in detention despite court orders that demanded his release.
“The minister of justice should immediately order a thorough review of ALL prisoners that are currently in detention, that have already been granted bail by the courts and those that have been detained and are languishing in jail without due charges,” one Jones Omotunde Fayose tweeted on Wednesday vis his handle, @JonesFayose, in response to the tweet by Peterside.
By our Editor
