The Nigerian Human Rights Community (NHRC) has demanded the release of Ilesanmi Adepoju, a 53-year-old man illegally arrested over the abduction of six people in Itapaji town of Ekiti State.
In a statement on Wednesday by its Secretary-General, Taye Adeleye, the group said Adepoju had been denied access to his family members for six days.
The community leader, who is a hunter and security officer at the town’s water corporation, was said to have been arrested by soldiers on October 27.
His arrest had come after six people were abducted by kidnappers in the town.
The group said, “The soldiers did not give any reason for his arrest. Adepoju has been kept without access to his family members for six days and his family is not sure about his health or access to food.”
The group said Ekiti State had maintained impressive human rights records in recent times, noting that the arrest of Adepoju by soldiers is an embarrassment to the progress recorded.
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The statement read, “Ekiti has reached remarkable milestones in human rights, almost the best in Nigeria. The action of the soldiers is out of the ring of honour already built by the current leaders of Ekiti State. We urge the soldiers to subject themselves to the civil authority in the state.”
The group said Adepoju was arrested during the search for the kidnappers, raising suspicion about the motive of the soldiers.
It added that although the soldiers claimed they were able to establish, through google mapping, that the kidnappers passed through the Itapaji Dam where Adepoju worked as a security official, that was not enough to arrest and keep him in detention for close to one week without access to his lawyers or members of this family.
It added, “We confirm that Mr Adepoju is a community leader who has kept an amazing record of honesty and truthfulness in his locality. His arrest came as a shock to the community. Instead of arresting the kidnappers, the soldiers went after an innocent citizen. This appears a clear case of overzealousness and an attempt to scapegoat the community.”
