The family of the publisher of Desert Herald and former chief negotiator between the Federal Government and bandits, Tukur Mamu has called on the government to release him from detention custody over his deteriorating health condition.

Mamu’s family pleaded for administrative bail to be granted to him to enable him to attend to his deteriorating health, saying that it was because of his health challenge which needed urgent attention that initially made him fly to Cairo before he was arrested and brought back to Nigeria.

The concern over Mamu’s health was expressed in a statement signed by his children, Faisal Tukur Mamu, Dr. Zainab Tukur Mamu, Usama Tukur Mamu, Nazir Tukur Mamu, Kashim Tukur Mamu, Marwan Tukur Mamu (two years old), on behalf of the family, and made available to Journalists in Kaduna on Monday.

According to the statement titled, “A Passionate Appeal For Mercy” the family said the appeal became necessary given their father’s deteriorating state of health

“On behalf of the family of Tukur Mamu, we the children call on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the Vice President, Senator Kashim Shettima and the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu and the President of the Senate, Senator Godswill Akpabio to please in the name of God Almighty and in the name of humanity to wade in on the continuous detention of our father and help ensure his bail.

“We are not seeking for the discontinuation of our father’s trial but we are passionately pleading for your good office and for you as a loving and responsible father to please grant our father administrative bail so that he will urgently do the much needed surgery,” the statement stressed.

The family further explained that “Tukur Mamu has a well documented history of respiratory ailments which forced him to travel to Egypt for medical treatment several times before his arrest and incarceration.”

“As a result of this medical condition, his Indian doctor had recommended that the use of a medical device in the night during his sleep to avoid sudden heart failure or heart attack.

“Furthermore, the implanting of the device was a temporary measure as it was recommended that he goes for a major surgery that would correct this respiratory imbalance.

“According to his doctor, significant part of his respiratory system has been blocked and so a surgery is urgently required.

“This recommendation and conclusion was about three years ago. It was eventually arranged for him to travel and have the surgery in Cairo it was in that process and on transit to do the surgery that he was arrested on 6th September, 2022,” the family emphasised (The Guardian)

• Mallam Tukur Mamu (third left); Sheikh Ahmad Gumi (fourth right) with freed train-attack victims in Kaduna

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