By Mukhtar Ibrahim
Alhaji Umaru Hadejia, a septuagenarian, cries out and looks for justice, after he had been unlawfully detained together with his 5 children by the state security forces.
According to Umaru, his arrest was allegedly orchestrated by the current state minister of defense, Matawalle, who ordered for their arrest without them commiting any offence.
In a letter obtained by TDR, Umaru Hadeja lamented and explained that; he, together with his five sons, were detained unlawfully by the IG of police.
“I, along with my five children (Bashir, Bello, Mahmud, Abubakar and Ahmad) have been
unlawfully detained without any warrant of arrest and without any charge levied against us at the Intelligence Response Team (IRT) unit in Abuja by the Inspector General of Police under the directive of the Minister of State (Defence) Bello Matawalle since yesterday 30th September, 2024 at around 6pm.”, He said.
He further said “The previously spurious allegations against Bashir by the Inspector General of Police and
the Minister of State (Defence) Bello Matawalle, which were widely circulated in the social media were found to be false because the Police investigations themselves did not find any cause to charge Bashir to court. Up to now, the Police could not charge Bashir on any of those allegations.”
“Despite this, the Police could not release Bashir, which then forced us to go to court to secure his release and enforcement of his fundamental human rights. Upon which the court granted bail and ordered for his release on the 5th of September 2024. Still, the Police refused to release Bashir until the 25th September 2024.”
“However, I and my above-named children are still being illegally detained by the Inspector General of Police under the directive of the Minister of Defence (State) Bello Matawalle without warrant of arrest and any charge against us.
I fear for our lives and safety.”
Initially, it was a son of Alhaji Umaru, named Bashir, who was arrested by officers from the Police Force Intelligence Department-Intelligence Response Team (FID-IRT) and Force Intelligence Department-Special Tactical Squad (FID-STS), but later, the father and other family members were also arrested when they attempted to seek for his release.
Federal prosecutors are accusing Bashir (the son) of “treason, subversion against the state” and playing a role in the sponsorship of the nationwide hunger protests in the first week of August.