A coalition of civil society organisations has demanded the immediate and unconditional release of Niger Delta human rights defender Daniel Ezekiel, who was arrested at his Abuja home on Friday, and called for an independent investigation into the allegations he has made against powerful figures in the region.
In a statement issued Sunday, the coalition said Ezekiel was reportedly taken from his home in Life Camp, Abuja, on Sept. 18 by men who did not identify themselves in a way he could verify.
He was later held at the Agwa Cement Police Station and is now reportedly in custody at the Force CID in Abuja.
The coalition said it has not publicly disclosed any charges and that it is unclear under whose authority the arrest was made.
The arrest came about two weeks after a Sept. 3 petition, reportedly filed by lawyers for businessman Chief Ekomieyefa Uduboh with the Inspector-General of Police and the National Cybercrime Centre. The petition alleges that Ezekiel and another person published defamatory Facebook posts in late August.
The coalition stressed that the claims in the petition remain untested and that Ezekiel is entitled to the presumption of innocence.
For months, Ezekiel has publicly alleged that he witnessed unlawful detention, torture, forced labour and intimidation carried out by Chief Government Ekpemupolo, popularly known as Tompolo, and by men linked to him and to Tantita Security Services Nigeria Limited, according to the coalition.
Through petitions to national and international human rights bodies, security agencies and government institutions, Ezekiel has also alleged that these individuals and companies run private prisons in the Niger Delta where torture, extrajudicial executions, enforced disappearances and forced labour are rampant.
The coalition said he has supported the claims with photographs, audio and video recordings, and testimonies from victims and their families.
These allegations have not been independently verified, and the statement did not include responses from the people and companies named.
“In a functioning democracy, raising such concerns should prompt an inquiry, not the arrest of the individual who reported them,” the coalition said.
Juwon Sanwolu, Coordinator of the Take It Back Movement, speaking on behalf of the coalition, said: “When a whistleblower is detained before the allegations he raised are examined, the public is left to ask whose interests the system is protecting.”
The coalition argued that the circumstances of the arrest raise serious legal questions. It cited Section 35 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), which protect liberty and prohibit arbitrary arrest.
“A warrantless arrest by unidentified men, followed by an unexplained transfer between police locations, raises serious questions of legality,” the statement said.
The group also criticised the use of cybercrime provisions in what it described as an ordinarily civil matter.
It said that alleged defamation is “ordinarily a civil matter” and that using cybercrime laws against critics and rights defenders threatens freedom of expression, which is guaranteed by Section 39 of the Constitution and Article 19 of the ICCPR.
It noted that the ECOWAS Court of Justice has previously found Nigeria’s cyberstalking provision in violation of that freedom.
“If the police can be used to settle private scores with human rights defenders, no citizen who exposes wrongdoing is safe,” the coalition said.
The coalition called on the Nigeria Police Force to release Ezekiel immediately and unconditionally. It also called on the Inspector-General of Police to publicly disclose the legal basis for the arrest, the identity of the officers involved and the unit handling the petition.
It further demanded that Ezekiel be given immediate access to his lawyers, family and any needed medical care, and that his physical safety be guaranteed.
The coalition also urged the Federal Government, through the Attorney-General of the Federation and the National Human Rights Commission, to ensure an independent and impartial investigation of the torture, unlawful detention and forced labour allegations, with protection for witnesses and complainants.
Finally, it said all parties named in the matters should submit to lawful, transparent processes and should not use security agencies “as instruments of intimidation.”
The coalition said it will monitor developments closely and is prepared to mobilise national and international mechanisms, including the UN and African human rights systems, if Ezekiel is not freed and the allegations are not investigated.
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