The Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) has strongly condemned what it described as brazen and unconstitutional human rights violations committed under the watch of Governors Chukwuma Soludo of Anambra State and Bala Mohammed of Bauchi State. The group demanded the immediate and unconditional release of victims held in illegal detention by state-backed security agents in the two states, describing the actions as an assault on Nigeria?s constitutional democracy and a dangerous descent into lawlessness.

In a statement issued on Sunday in Abuja, HURIWA decried the continued detention of Mr. Daniel Ikwo, his heavily pregnant wife, Cynthia, and their two children?aged four and two?by operatives of the Anambra State security outfit, Udogachi. The family was reportedly arrested on May 30, 2025, in Nnewi and held without charge or formal explanation for more than 20 days.

The association also criticized the Bauchi State Government over the arrest and remand of Abubakar Ahmad, a lecturer at the Federal College of Horticulture, Gombe, allegedly detained for reposting a years-old video of the governor?s son, Shamsudeen Bala, on social media.

?These are not isolated incidents; they represent a deeply troubling pattern of state-sponsored tyranny. Governor Soludo must be held responsible for allowing vigilante operatives under his administration to abduct a pregnant woman and her toddlers without any legal basis. This is an outrage,? said HURIWA?s National Coordinator, Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko.

On the Anambra case, HURIWA referenced a petition dated June 20, 2025, submitted to the state Commissioner of Police and corroborated by media reports, which revealed that all efforts to gain access to the detained Ikwo family had been thwarted by the Udogachi command in Nnewi. When the family visited the detention center on June 18, they were only allowed to glimpse the mother and children from a distance, while the whereabouts of Mr. Daniel Ikwo remained unknown.

?It is utterly reprehensible that in a so-called democratic state, a woman near delivery and her babies can be held like criminals without charge. This is not community policing; this is anarchy. If Governor Soludo fails to act, it signals his complicity,? HURIWA stated.

The group also criticized the flippant response of the Anambra Commissioner for Information, Law Mefor, who reportedly dismissed concerns by telling the family to ?go to court.?

?Such cold indifference to injustice shows a complete breakdown of moral and constitutional leadership. How do you tell a family torn apart by illegal arrest to simply go to court while the state continues to brutalize them?? Onwubiko queried.

In Bauchi, HURIWA expressed outrage over the continued detention of Lecturer Abubakar Ahmad, arrested on the orders of Shamsudeen Bala, the son of Governor Bala Mohammed, over a video clip shared on social media?one that had been in circulation for more than seven years. According to the lecturer?s wife and legal team, Ahmad voluntarily honoured a police invitation but was denied bail and later remanded in custody, despite a judge's directive that the case be forwarded to the State CID for proper investigation.

?Defamation is not a capital offence. It is deeply shameful that Governor Bala Mohammed has allowed his son to weaponize the police against a private citizen over a harmless video. This is a dangerous abuse of privilege and power,? said HURIWA.

The group accused the Bauchi State Police Command of deliberately misusing remand proceedings to detain the lecturer unlawfully, noting that such procedures are meant for serious crimes, not alleged social media infractions.

?The Constitution guarantees every citizen the right to liberty and fair trial. What happened in Bauchi is a mockery of the justice system. It is an insult to Nigeria?s legal framework that a lecturer can be jailed for reposting a viral video. We hold Governor Bala Mohammed personally responsible for this shameful act,? HURIWA stated.

The association warned that if governors and their political allies continue to suppress dissent and trample on citizens? rights unchecked, Nigeria?s democratic foundation will continue to erode.

?The governors must understand that they are not monarchs. No public office gives them the right to harass, abduct, or jail innocent citizens without recourse to the law,? Onwubiko emphasized.

HURIWA demanded the immediate release of the Ikwo family and the lecturer, urging both governors to issue public apologies and compensate the victims. It also called for the Inspector-General of Police and the National Human Rights Commission to open independent investigations into both cases and ensure that those responsible for the illegal detentions face justice

?Democracy without human rights is a fraud. We cannot remain silent while public officials abuse their power to terrorize the vulnerable. These violations must stop?and they must stop now,? HURIWA concluded.

Update news