Silent abductions of EndBadGovernance protesters in Nigeria

The array of the sun at the Intelligence Response Team (IRT) premises cast a harsh glow on Daniel Akande’s face. Seated under a tree shade, his posture slumped with a mix of sadness and suspicion. His eyes appeared sunken and tired when The ICIR reporter posed as his brother to gain entry into the police intelligence Response Team (IRT) office in Abuja and speak with him about his plights. Beside him were his wife, Esther, and sister (name withheld). Both were attending to Akande’s only son, while repeatedly glancing at his investigating police officer (IPO), standing nearby.

Akande was in the middle of a Sunday service with his wife and his one-year-old son, on September 1, just 21 days after the EndBadGovernance that shook the entire country, when a man, with plaited hair moved towards him and suddenly grabbed him by his collar.

The mood in the Church, which had earlier been filled with the sounds of the congregation, shifted as Akande struggled to fight off the man’s hand from his neck. However, his efforts proved abortive as the man, firmly declared that he was being arrested for an alleged murder. At that point, Akande’s wife felt helpless. She looked around desperately for help from the Church members, but the officers already had her husband by the arms.

His arrest followed a chillingly consistent pattern: protesters of the #EndBadGovernance movement, which took place in many states across Nigeria between August 1 and 10, were often singled out after being identified as vocal participants or organisers.

They were typically abducted either in the dead of night or in a coordinated manner. Some were taken directly from their homes, while others went missing after protests or during encounters with security forces. In many cases, families and friends raised the alarm about these unlawful arrests on social media, sometimes hours or even days later.

Akande was one of the protesters who were arrested and are now facing treasonable charges. Beyond that, he belongs to some youth movement that boasts of holding the government to account and protesting against some of the economic policies of Bola Tinubu’s administration. But that was all he said about his contribution during the demonstrations. 

Despite that, Akande spent 27 days at the IRT office in Abuja, before he was charged to court on September 28.  On September 17, about 17 days after his arrest, Akande celebrated his 31st birthday in the cell, with several EndBadGovernance protesters. When he was first taken into police custody, he was kept incommunicado from his loved ones and lawyers until five days later when his wife would be allowed to see him.

“While at the IRT, nobody mentioned any murder case to me. Most of the questions they grilled me revolved around EndBadGovernance and who our sponsors were as if we had any. Nigerians are the sponsors of this protest, and that’s because of the economic policies [sic],” he said.

He would later spend 16 days in prison before he regained freedom under bail. 

Akande was not alone. Across the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Kano, and Sokoto, over 1,000 young persons were arrested and abducted by security operatives, including children and citizens who had nothing to do with the protest. 

The movement, which gained momentum in the first few days of August, began as a collective outcry against biting hardships, unfriendly economic policies, and rising insecurity. However, for many families, it turned into a nightmare and the little they had for sustenance is now being channelled to secure the release of their loved ones.

It was past evening prayer when *Hassan’s (name changed) family last heard from him. He had gone to his usual makeshift shop near the Sokoto State government house, where he sells newspapers and other small provisions.

That day, protests were ongoing in the city, and like many others in the state, Usman was caught in the chaos that unfolded. The police fired tear gas to disperse the crowd, and in the ensuing panic, people scattered in all directions. V!EW BEFORE THEY GOT DELETED| Baltazar FROM Equatorial Guinea TRENDS AGAIN AS OVER 50 OF HIS FRESH BEDR00M V!DEOS SVRFACES ONLINE.

However, Hassan, who was only tending to his business beside his goods, found himself dragged into a police van. The officer seized the kola nuts he was holding, and his newspapers were thrown to the ground.

He was consequently taken to the State CID office, where he, alongside dozens of others, was locked up. “That was how they took me and other people to the State CID office and locked us up. An elderly man near my shop took my belongings and kept them for me,” he said.

That night, his family became worried when he didn’t return home at his usual time. It wasn’t until later that they learned he had been arrested during the police crackdown on protesters.

The next day, the detainees, including Hassan, were presented before a mobile court hastily set up at the police station. There, the magistrate declared that each of them had to pay a fine of about N130,000 for their release. “Those who were able to pay the money were released, while those of us who couldn’t were left there before we were later transferred to prison, where I spent six days,” Hassan narrated.

Hassan, a father of seven children, spent a gruelling six days in prison under very dire conditions. Although he mentioned that he wasn’t subjected to physical abuse during his time in both the police cell and the prison, he did experience emotional and psychological distress.

“It was after six days that my family and relatives were able to contribute N130,000 to pay for my bail. Throughout my six days in prison, I was just thinking about my family, as I have one wife and seven children. You see this small business of mine, I just thank God,” Hassan said, with tearful eyes and a breaking voice.

In Sokoto alone, the state police command estimated that 89 citizens branded as ‘suspected vandals’ were arrested on the first day of the protests and remanded in prison custody by a mobile court during its sessions on Thursday, August 1, and Friday, August 2, at the state police command.

Human rights activists and lawyers stated that about 80 of these individuals were abducted and tried illegally by the state government following the protests. The total number is difficult to quantify, as some victims’ families are too scared to come forward.

However, what is clear is that these abductions were part of a broader strategy to quell dissenting voices in the country.

Arrested in the dead of  night, incommunicado for days

Babatunde Sankara, his nephew, and two others were fast asleep when, around 2 a.m. on August 5 in Abuja, he began hearing voices and banging on his door. The steps were heavy as the officers moved through the two-storey building where he lives.

Initially, the officers who, he said, were many, stormed the second floor. Finding nothing of interest there, they proceeded to turn the entire building upside down in their search. Moments later, they stood at his door, pounding heavily on the wood as they demanded entry.

Standing a few steps away from the door, half-awake and gripped by confusion, Sankara initially thought they were kidnappers. It wasn’t until they started demanding to know who Michael Adaramoye (Lenin) was that he realised they were security officers. Once they confirmed Lenin was in the building, they asked Sankara to step aside, ransacked the room, and eventually whisked their target away.

Although Sankara, a human rights activist, was not involved in the protests, Lenin, whom he had been housing, had actively participated in the demonstrations in Abuja. Determined not to let Lenin be taken without knowing his whereabouts, Sankara became a target himself and was arrested alongside Lenin.

“About five masked men came in. Everyone who came upstairs was in plain clothes. Initially, I thought they were DSS, but later I realised they were National Intelligence Agency (NIA) operatives. Once Michael identified himself, they asked him to stand aside. At that point, it became clear to me that he was the one they wanted, and that he had to go with them.

“Actually, Lenin stays with me on and off. He’s a DJ and a graphic artist, and his work often takes him between Lagos and other cities. When he’s in Abuja, he stays with me.”

Not long after the officers, who arrived with several vehicles, drove through the estate’s back gate, they returned to pick up the remaining roommates, bringing the total to four. Just as they did with Sankara and Lenin, they blindfolded Mosiu Sadiq, his nephew, and the other person (name withheld) until they arrived at the NIA office, where they were placed in a cold cell.

“They came in through the back gate, and that’s also where they took us out. I think we were somewhere outside the gate when they suddenly stopped. I could hear their conversation over the radio; they received instructions to go back and pick up the others in the house. That was how the other two were also taken.

”The journey from my house to the NIA shouldn’t have taken more than 15 minutes at that hour, considering the speed we were traveling. However, they stretched it to almost an hour, taking multiple detours before we finally arrived. At that point, we had no idea where we were,” Sankara said.

With his leg cuffed and his brothers’ hands cuffed behind their backs, Sankara endured over 15 hours in what he described as a ‘cold room,’ blindfolded. His medical condition “diabetes” was ignored, and despite his repeated requests for medication, none was provided. “We were blindfolded the whole time at the NIA. The only time they removed the blindfold was when we got to the IRT,” he said, adding, “They wanted to handcuff me behind my back, but I told them I have a medical condition and it would affect my blood flow, so they should cuff me in front. There was a guy there, I don’t know what came over him, but the next thing, he punched me in the nose, and I bled for more than 10 minutes.”

The interrogation continued intermittently for about 15 hours, with no access to legal representations before dumping them at the IRT. Sankara was released three days after his arrest by the NIA operatives, on Thursday, August 8. However, Lenin and Sadiq spent 28 days at the IRT before they were eventually arraigned in court.

Alongside eight others linked to the #EndBadGovernance protests, they were arraigned on September 2, by the Nigerian government on six count charges bordering on plotting an attempt to topple President Bola Tinubu, felony, and cybercrime. The 10 individuals were alleged to be sponsored by Briton Wynne, who has been declared a wanted person by the police, for funding the alleged plot to overthrow President Tinubu and the waving of Russian flags in some parts of the country.

Wynne, whose bookshop was raided by the police at the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) headquarters in Abuja during the protests, has denied all allegations.

Starved, denied medication, and kept in an underground cell for 28 days 

For 28 days, Lenin and Sadiq were held in an underground cell said to house no fewer than 40 inmates. While speaking with The ICIR, they were careful with their words but did not hold back in describing how they were crammed into the cell.

During the first three days of their detention at the IRT, Sadiq, and Lenin were starved and denied medication. “For three days, both Lenin and I didn’t eat anything, only water,” Sadiq says, his voice cracking with emotion. The situation worsened for him when he fell ill, likely due to the accumulated cold from the ‘cold room’ at the NIA and IRT, and the unhealthy conditions of the cell.

“It was a very bad experience for me. There was a time at the IRT when I was very sick. I told my IPO about it. Lenin had been called out to write a statement, and I asked him to tell my IPO that I needed medication. The IPO didn’t even come to check on me.

“I was nursing that sickness for two weeks, but thankfully, one of my neighbours, a police officer, later helped me with some drugs.”

‘I was forced to confess’

From the first evening, the officers pressured Sadiq to confess to specific crimes, including participating in the design of fliers for the protest organisers, but he refused. According to him, nothing incriminating was on his laptop and phone, which had been seized during the night raid. Despite this, he was charged with severe crimes, including treason.

“After that first day I wrote my statement, the only other time I was called out was to open my laptop. The IPO asked me if I had designed the EndBadGovernance t-shirts and fliers, as I’m a graphic designer. I told him that while I do graphic design, I hadn’t made any fliers for that. I didn’t even attend the protests.

After their gruelling 28 days at the IRT, Sadiq, Lenin, and other young protesters were remanded at Kuje Correctional Centre, where they spent another 30 days. Although life at the correctional centre was better, conditions were still dismal. “Even at the correctional centre, I was getting rashes and infections. You know, sharing the same toilets with about 20 people or more,” Sadiq says, adding, “It was a very bad experience. I was mentally depressed. It’s very bitter, I wouldn’t wish it on anyone. It’s a terrible experience, I swear.” V!EW BEFORE THEY GOT DELETED| Baltazar FROM Equatorial Guinea TRENDS AGAIN AS OVER 50 OF HIS FRESH BEDR00M V!DEOS SVRFACES ONLINE.

A history of human rights abuse

Nigeria has a history of human rights abuse and use of force and security operatives against protesters. In fact, the Nigerian government is notorious for clamping down dissenting voices, and journalists alike.

In 2020, after the #EndSARS protest, several reports indicted the government for killing peaceful protesters, including a journalist covering the protest, for abducting many others. Most of them were kept in jail for weeks without trial and later faced ridiculous charges for protesting against police brutality and harassment in the country.

According to Amnesty International, at least 56 people died across the country during the protests. In 2023, which was three years after the protest, Amnesty International stated that at least  fifteen protesters were still being arbitrarily detained, with the majority of them being held without trial in Kirikiri Medium Correctional Centre and Ikoyi Medium Security Correctional Centre in Lagos.

The organisation listed the detainees as Daniel Joy-Igbo, Sodiq Adigun, Sunday Okoro, Olumide Fatai, Oluwole Isa, Shehu Anas, and Akiniran Oyetakin, all arrested in Lagos in 2020 and were being arbitrarily held in Kirikiri Medium Correctional Centre.

Segun Adeniyi, Onuorah Odih, Jeremiah Lucky, Gideon Ikwujomah, Irinyemi Olorunwanbe, Quadri Azeez, Olamide Lekan, and Sadiq Riliwan, were being detained without trial in Ikoyi Medium Security Correctional Centre in Lagos since 2020.

‘Manufactured’ charges, stringent bail conditions 

On August 1, Lenin joined the #EndBadGovernance protest at the Moshood Abiola Stadium in Abuja. The protest was largely peaceful until demonstrators attempted to march to Eagle Square, where security forces resisted, using force to disperse them. 

For the next few days, Lenin remained at the protest grounds, returning home after each day’s demonstrations. But by midnight of Thursday, August 5, his routine was disrupted when a group of officers arrived at his residence to arrest him.

He was accused of conspiring with a foreign national, Wynee, whose only connection to Lenin, according to him, was the fact that he was aware of Wynee’s bookshop located at the NLC headquarters in Abuja. Despite this, the officers seemed fixated on linking Lenin to a broader conspiracy. 

During his incarceration at the IRT, Lenin wrote statements about five times, and each time he was called upon by the officers, they asked him the same questions: about his sponsor and his relationship with Wynne. Even after denying any involvement with Wynne and the waving of flags in various parts of the state, he was charged with felony, treason, and working with Wynne and groups waving Russian flags, accusations Lenin firmly rejected.

The ICIR reported that over 800 people were arrested in Kano in connection with the protests. While speaking with The ICIR, Lenin acknowledged he participated in the peaceful protests in Abuja but maintained his innocence regarding any foreign interference. He also claimed that the police found no incriminating evidence on his phone and laptop, which they held for about a month.

On September 11, Lenin, along with Sadiq and eight others, was granted bail by the Federal High Court. The court presided over by Emeka Nwite, set the bail at N10 million each, along with a surety in like sum. The sureties were required to reside in Abuja, own property within the city, and deposit the property documents with the court registrar. Additionally, they had to swear an affidavit of means.

Lenin described the bail conditions and charges as stringent and seemingly designed to deter any immediate efforts to secure their release. He noted that his people were able to meet the bail requirements 22 days later.

A human rights lawyer, Abdul Mahmud, said slamming such bail conditions on the protesters is ‘pernicious’. He noted that the Nigerian Constitution grants citizens the right to peaceful assembly and expression under Sections 39 and 40, emphasising that peaceful protesters should not be criminalised solely for exercising these rights.V!EW BEFORE THEY GOT DELETED| Baltazar FROM Equatorial Guinea TRENDS AGAIN AS OVER 50 OF HIS FRESH BEDR00M V!DEOS SVRFACES ONLINE.

“Furthermore, it is my view that detaining individuals incommunicado (without access to legal counsel, family, or outside communication) is a serious violation of their right to personal liberty, protected under Section 35 of the Constitution. This section mandates that anyone arrested must be informed of the reason for their arrest and be brought before a court within a reasonable time, usually 24 to 72 hours,” he said.

“The arrest, detention, and subsequent imposition of treason charges on peaceful protesters cannot be justified under the law. Such actions violate the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (1999, as amended),” he added.

The ICIR sought clarification on these and other allegations from Josephine Adeh, the Spokesperson for the Federal Capital Territory Police Command. She asked that the questions be sent via text, explaining that she was attending a conference. However, the message concerning human rights abuses and arbitrary arrests, sent to her phone, is yet to receive a reply.

Innocent, yet guilty

Murtala Auwal, a resident of Kurana Babban Layi in Ungogo LGA, in Kano state was standing by the roadside near his house during the protest when the police picked him up.

Auwal, known to his family as a very calm young man, did not participate in the protest. However, he was arrested when the police started apprehending thugs who were vandalising government properties near the government house.

“I was standing by the road, just watching. Suddenly, the police started arresting whoever they saw without asking any questions. I stood my ground and refused to run because I knew I hadn’t committed any offense. Two police officers approached me and grabbed my trousers. I tried to explain that I wasn’t part of the vandals, but they didn’t listen. Instead, they manhandled me and threw me into their vehicle,” he narrated.

Auwal was taken to the Kano State Police Command and locked in a cell. He ended up spending three days in the cell with no access to his family or legal representation.

Before going to court, he said the authorities had already written a statement declaring him guilty of violating state orders and vandalising state property.

“I pleaded not guilty and explained to the court what had happened, but the judge sentenced us to prison pending trial. I spent 47 days in prison. It was after about 11 days that I was finally able to see my parents when they paid me a visit,” he recalled.

When The ICIR contacted the Kano State police command spokesperson, Abdullahi Haruna Kiyawa, about Haruna’s plight and several other allegations against the command, he refused to pick up his calls or respond to text messages sent to his contact.V!EW BEFORE THEY GOT DELETED| Baltazar FROM Equatorial Guinea TRENDS AGAIN AS OVER 50 OF HIS FRESH BEDR00M V!DEOS SVRFACES ONLINE.

Tried by environmental sanitation mobile court in Sokoto

In Sokoto, a number of families and witnesses accused security forces of orchestrating these arbitrary arrests of citizens. The Nigerian police and the State Security Services (SSS) have denied involvement, repeatedly dismissing allegations as “baseless” and accusing protesters of vandalism and incitement of further unrest. The ICIR’s findings revealed unfair treatment and arbitrary arrests of citizens, with gaps in the judicial process that negatively impacted many of the victims.

In separate interviews with the chairman of the EndBadGovernance protest panel in Sokoto, the vice president of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), as well as lawyers and insiders at the state’s ministry of justice, it was established that the victims, without recourse to their fundamental rights, were tried by an ‘Environmental Mobile Court.’ This court, which legally oversees environmental sanitation offenders, was leveraged as a tool to fast-track convictions of these individuals without appropriate legal representation or a fair hearing.

The vice president of the NBA, Mansur Aliyu, stated that the police tried the victims without witnesses, legal representation, or a fair trial. 

“On the first day, there was a mass arrest and even the following day, there was another mass arrest. Our attention was drawn to the fact that some people were arrested by the Sokoto State Police command, and many of them were minors. We started receiving complaints from our lawyers that they were being prevented from accessing the detainees at the Criminal Investigation Department (CID).

“We met a mobile court sitting right there at the CID, under the police roof. Those arrested were being tried at the CID. Some pleaded guilty, some were attending to their bails, and you saw all kinds of things. Under those circumstances, you can’t expect someone to have a fair trial. When you arrest someone, detain them, and then bring the court to try them on the same premises, how can they freely decide whether they are guilty or not?”

During the ordeal, some of the detainees pleaded guilty to offenses they didn’t commit and were given the option to pay a fine of about N130,000. However, many were unable to pay the amount immediately and were transferred to prison until they could perfect their bail.

While the case is still pending in court, the NBA’s vice president, Muhammad stressed that the police have called no single witness.

Regarding the legitimacy of the mobile court, Muhammad emphasised that the court was created specifically for sanitation offenses in Sokoto and shouldn’t have the power to pass judgment on penal cases.

“As far as we are concerned, the mobile court, even from the case number they are assigned with, apart from the case is in Sokoto, also has Environmental Sanitation Mobile Court ( ESMC). It’s a court purposely created for the Sokoto sanitation. Nobody should be outside from 7 am to 10 am every last Saturday of the month, and the mobile court is there to fine offenders. Nobody should litter the streets and so on. 

“Now the same court is being used to try offenses under penal court, which to the best of our belief and knowledge of law, they don’t have authority to try.”

Meanwhile, this was also the opinion of Mahmud (earlier mentioned), who said the legality of trying individuals charged with protests and breaches of peace in a mobile environmental court is questionable.

According to him, mobile environmental courts are designed to try cases related to environmental offenses, such as violations of sanitation laws, environmental degradation, and pollution. Protests and breaches of peace usually fall under criminal or public order laws and are not typically categorised as environmental offenses. 

“Trying individuals involved in protests in a mobile environmental court raises significant legal issues regarding jurisdiction and the right to a fair trial. Under the Constitution 1999, every individual is entitled to a procedural hearing in a court of competent jurisdiction, and trying protest-related cases in an environmental court creates procedural unfairness and abuse of legal process,” Mahmud said.V!EW BEFORE THEY GOT DELETED| Baltazar FROM Equatorial Guinea TRENDS AGAIN AS OVER 50 OF HIS FRESH BEDR00M V!DEOS SVRFACES ONLINE.

The Sokoto State Police Command refused to comment on these matters when The ICIR reached out to its spokesperson, Ahmad Rufa’i. He neither answered his calls nor responded to our text...Tap To Read The Full Story Here.