Relations of 12 trav­ellers who were allegedly arrested in Kogi State on their way to Abuja to wit­ness the botched July 26, 2021 proceedings in the ongoing trial of leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, have cried out to the Fed­eral Government to release them unconditionally.

The 12 persons including two drivers, who are said to be from Ebonyi State were allegedly arrested and de­tained in Lokoja, Kogi State, on Monday, July 26, the day of the trial.

The victims are Wisdom Ezike, Kenneth Ojima, Chine­du Nwoba, Igwe Sampson, Da­vid Ogbonnaya, Aja Joseph, Barrister Awoke, Chinoso Oyibe, Eze Joseph, Okezie Fortune and two drivers.

A source who spoke on be­half of the relations told Dai­ly Independent that he gath­ered on good authority that the travellers were arrested and detained by operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS) in Kogi State.

“My brother is one of those arrested and detained by the DSS in Kogi State, on their way to Abuja to attend Nnamdi Kanu’s trial on July 26,” the source, who preferred anonymity stated.

“We are calling on the Fed­eral Government to effect the release of the innocent citizens as they did not com­mit any crime in travelling on road constructed with tax payers’ money.

Recall that DSS operatives had on July 26, dispersed people who had come to show solidarity to Kanu during the trial at the Fed­eral High Court, Abuja.

Concerted effort by Daily Independent on Sunday to have the DSS spokesperson, Dr. Peter Afunaya, to either confirm or refute the allega­tion proved abortive as he did not reply a text message sent to him as requested by him.

Also, the GSM line of Bar­rister Ifeanyi Ejiofor, lead counsel to the detained IPOB leader, Nnamdi Kanu, was switched off as at the time calls were placed to him.

But Barrister Maxwell Opara, an Abuja based legal practitioner and rights ac­tivist, who is a member of Kanu’s legal team confirmed the information that some supporters of the IPOB lead­er were arrested on July 26.

However, he said they were making contacts to know the exact locations of such arrests so that they can issue a statement to that effect.

(Courtesy, Daily Independent)