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Incident between October 2012 and 2014 [+] Print this page

Location: Presidential Lodge detention centre, Ngelzarma [+]

Country: Nigeria [+]

Violation types: Arbitrary detention [+]

Perpetrator classifications: Military [+]

Location


This incident took place in Presidential Lodge detention centre, Ngelzarma, Nigeria [+]

Description


According to Amnesty International: "ARBITRARY DETENTION OF DR MUHAMMAD MARI ABBA Two and a half year after his arrest, Dr Muhammad Mari Abba has yet to be brought to a court of law. He remains in incommunicado detention. The 36-year-old medical practitioner and consultant for the World Health Organization was arrested on 20 October 2012 in Yobe state. According to his lawyer, Dr Abba was stopped at a police checkpoint while travelling with three other passengers from Damaturu to Jakusko and Nangere LGAs in Yobe state. The other passengers ran away and were chased by the police; Dr Abba stayed in the car and gave a statement to the police. He was then allowed to go, leaving the car behind. When he later realized that he had left his wallet in the car, he went to Damaturu police station, where he was detained. According to the military, IEDs (improvised explosive devices) were found in the commercial vehicle in which he was travelling. He was accused of being a Boko Haram member or sympathizer and after a brief period in police detention was transferred to the Presidential Lodge detention centre run by the JTF in Damaturu, Yobe state. A summary of his case file gives an insight into some of the causes underlying the failure to protect suspects from arbitrary detention. The internal military report on his case, seen by Amnesty International, explains that the military detained suspected Boko Haram members without prosecution as both the police and the Department of State Security (DSS) “declined” to prosecute. In October 2012, the headquarters of ORO III asked Army Headquarters what to do with these suspects and suggested transferring them to the Defence Intelligence Agency. Army Headquarters responded in December 2012 that there were no detention facilities available for detainees. Consequently, Dr Abba‘s case was stalled and, according to the report on his case, “Due to the unavailability of a legal officer in ORO III, the investigation of Dr Abba became ineffectual.” On 30 April 2013, his lawyer filed a case before the Federal High Court in Abuja on behalf of Dr Mari Abba, on the basis that his continued detention without trial was unlawful, unconstitutional and illegal. Since then, Dr Abba has neither been allowed to see his lawyer nor allowed to attend court hearings. In September 2013, the court refused to order Dr Abba’s release because he was detained in relation to “an alleged terrorist activity”. The judge said that “by the virtue of the State of Emergency (Certain States of the Federation) Proclamation Act, which has since applied in this jurisdiction, this Court is not empowered to enquire into the alleged detention of the 1st Applicant or to make any of the orders sought in this motion.” In May 2013, Dr Abba‘s name appeared on a list of 95 suspects recommended for release by the Office of the National Security Adviser.267 Like most of those on the list, he was not released. In July 2013, the military transferred the case back to the Yobe state police for prosecution. However, the military acknowledged in heir internal memo that the evidence against him was not “convincing enough” and there should first have been “further investigation before prosecution”. In August 2013, senior officials at Defence Headquarters told Amnesty International that they were going to prosecute Dr Abba. A military source told Amnesty International in March 2015 that he had not been charged or released and remained in incommunicado detention. Amnesty International received information in early 2014 that he had been transferred to Kainji detention centre. According to a military source, Dr Abba was still alive in March 2015." [+]

Sources

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Publication Date Publisher Publication Title Access Date Archive Link
02 June 2015 Amnesty International Stars on their shoulders. Blood on their hands. War crimes committed by the Nigerian military. 44/1657/2015. 27 September 2018