Their lawyers said the persons detained for allegedly belonging to IPOB "have become victims of enforced disappearance from the custody of Nigeria's secret police and the army."
Some relatives of 24 alleged members of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) on Monday besieged Abuja, demanding their immediate release.
Speaking on behalf of the aggrieved families at a press conference in Abuja on Monday, Nnaemeka Ejiofor, a lawyer to the IPOB leader, Nnamdi Kanu, said the detainees are being held by the State Security Service (SSS) and the Nigerian Army.
Mr Ejiofor said many of the victims of the arbitrary arrest and detention "have become victims of enforced disappearance from the custody of Nigeria's secret police and the army."
He disclosed that Pius Awoke, a member of the legal team representing Mr Kanu, was abducted by SSS operatives while he was returning from Abuja to his base in Ebonyi State last year.
The lawyer listed other detainees to include Ikechukwu Henry, Joy Godwin Udoh aka (Idara Gold), Emeka Ngonadi, Chinedu Nwoba, Igwe Johnson Dike, Ogbonna Ajah, Kingsley Onovu, Ogbonna David, Kenneth Ojima, Fortune Okezie, Joseph Okafor Eze, Emmanuel Onyibe Chinonso and Uket Godwin.
According to Mr Ejiofor, the detainees comprising men and woman who were of Igbo and Ibibio extractions, in the southern part of Nigeria, were accused by the federal government of belonging to IPOB.
He lamented that their whereabouts remained unknown.
'How some detainees were arrested'
Narrating the circumstances that surrounded the detainees' arrest, Mr Ejiofor said, "Mr Awoke and 10 of his colleagues were amongst those who came from Ebonyi State, eastern Nigeria, to witness the trial of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu on July 26 2021."
After proceedings at the Federal High Court, Abuja, Mr Awoke and others boarded two vehicles back to Ebonyi State only to be intercepted by a Navy unit stationed in Lokoja, Kogi State, Mr Ejiofor said. "They were held down at the check point for over five hours till a team of the SSS came to take them back to Abuja."
He said, "upon being sued to challenge their arrests and detention, the military was said to have transferred them to WAWA Military Barracks in Niger State," denying their lawyers and families access to the suspects.
Another suspect, 20-year-old Joy Udoh (Idara Gold), was said to have gone to celebrate her birthday with her fiance when officers of the SSS stormed the fiance's house in search of the fiance, Chuks Egwuatu.
While her fiance's siblings were released after about five days in detention; Ms Udoh was transferred to Abuja office of the spy agency on November 16 2022.
"None of these victims of enforced disappearance have received anything like a trial since their arrests," Mr Ejiofor said.
He advised the federal government "to do the right thing by producing these victims and releasing them to their families with apologies and compensation as it is not a crime to demand for self-determination."
Background
Mr Kanu himself is still being held by the SSS against a court order.
Last Thursday, 13 October, PREMIUM TIMES reported that the Court of Appeal ordered Mr Kanu's release from the custody of SSS, where the IPOB is being held since he was brought back to Nigeria.
The court in a unanimous decision held that Mr Kanu's extradition from Kenya in June 2021 to Nigeria without following the extradition rules was a flagrant violation of Nigeria's extradition treaty and a breach of the IPOB leader's fundamental human rights.
The separatist leader was accused of various offences in the 15 counts, including treasonable felony and terrorism, offences he allegedly committed in the course of his Biafra nation agitations.
Despite appellate court's order for Mr Kanu's release from detention, the Nigerian government has yet to comply with the judgement as of the time of filing this report.
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The Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, said the government would not release the IPOB leader despite Thursday's Court of Appeal verdict.
He disclosed that the government was reviewing its legal options and could institute other charges against him.
While the government holds the right to appeal against the court's decision, lawyers say it has no legal basis to continue to hold him in the absence of any fresh court order detaining Mr Kanu.
After a confrontation with IPOB members and escalation of violence in the South-east states, the federal government, on 20 September 2017, obtained the order of the Federal High Court in Abuja for the proscription of the group as a terrorist group.
In June last year, the federal government brought Mr Kanu from Kenya, a move the Court of Appeal held was illegally done such that it rendered charges filed against him in Nigeria a nullity.
