The family of Azeez Maruff a.k.a Tula Oyo has cried out to the Director of Army Public Relations, Brigadier General Onyema Nwachukwu, and the public on what it described as illegal abduction of the head of the family by officers of the Nigerian Army in Oyo town, Oyo State last Thursday.
According to a ‘Save Our Soul’ message by Azeez Adebayo Lanre, who is the son of Maruff, the Nigerian Army personnel came to the residence of the man in their custody at Alhaja Sara Street, Cele area of the town at about 7:50 am.
In the message, Lanre stated “The whole drama started when an unknown man from nowhere stood at the back of my dad’s car parked outside the house.
“Going about his usual way of life that has become part of him in giving maize seeds to domestic animals every morning whenever he finishes his prayer, he first noticed one man standing behind his car and went out back to check for security purposes.
“He noticed they had become two and then had to challenge them to know what they were looking for.
After he asked them who they were and what they were looking for, the duo replied in a volatile way that they belong to the Nigeria armed forces, demanding immediate arrest of my dad for just an interrogation and trying to bundle him into their car with a towel wrapped around his waist.
“He told them he would be going with them and they should allow him to change his towel to normal wear. His relatives who were around had already intervened to allow him change to his cloth when they asserted that his attention was needed for just Interrogation alone.
“Furthermore, in a twinkle of an eye, one of them made a signal and we noticed escorts coming en masse with a lot of members of the Nigerian Army inside buses.
“We pleaded to allow one of his relatives to follow them so as to, at least, know his whereabouts, to which they agreed to allow me (his son).
“Upon the agreement, he was taken to Operation Burst’s office in Oyo town where they signed out and made me understand that I couldn’t go with them to the next location they were taking him to.
“Without much hesitation, I quickly put a call through to my brother which made him reach out to his friends. They all met us at the scene.
“It should be stated that before taking him to an unknown location, he was handcuffed, blindfolded and put inside a Golf car before they zoomed off with the Operation Burst, Oyo personnel escorting them.
“To my surprise, he was brought home that day at about 10:45 pm, asking him to go and bring his smartphone. Then he called me in their presence to bring his smartphone from where he normally kept it in his bedroom, and I went to his bedroom alone to pick up his phone and hand it over to that security personnel.”
The son said that since that day, he and other family members had not been able to see their father or talk to him, “in combination with his health status, as they have denied him of his medication.”
Lanre added “Let it be on record that the act by the Nigerian Army In connivance with the Operation Burst in Oyo Zone isn’t in any way different from abduction. It’s apparently clear that if there’s anything to qualify the illegal act by the Nigerian Army, it can be equated with ‘clear kidnapping’ by men in uniform.
Saying that his father had not committed any crime whatsoever, the son urged the Nigerian Army to release him.
The son stated further “First, the attempt to arrest him could be dubbed as ‘illegal.’ The Nigerian Army should understand that even if they are men in uniform, the process, method and mode of operations by the Nigerian Army are unconstitutional and inhumane.
“How on earth will a Nigerian citizen be bundled from his house without any clear-cut location? How will a man who committed no offence be taken away, with his face blindfolded, for more than four days?
“What crime has he committed to the level that what the Nigerian Army felt it can do is to molest an unarmed civilian?”
He said that all the questions by family members were begging for answers as soon as possible, making it known that his father, Maruff is a responsible and peace-loving person.
He advised the Nigerian Army, which said should be the protector of law, not to act otherwise, adding the Army would be held responsible if anything happens to his father.
In his reaction to the story, the Director-General of Operation Burst, Col. James Oladipo (retd) told Tribune Online that the security outfit’s personnel were not involved in the arrest.
“Operation Burst has no hand in it. It is beyond Operation Burst. It has to do with the military, so you go to 2 Division and they will tell you.”
When asked about the involvement of Operation Burst vehicle which conveyed the army personnel to Maruff’s house, Col Oladipo explained that the Operation Burst vehicle they came in was one of those the 2 Division had with it, emphasizing that the security outfit did not join in the operation.
Efforts to speak with Director of Army Public Relations, Brigadier General Nwachukwu and the Deputy Director, Army Public Relations, 2 Division of the Nigerian Army, Major Iweha, proved abortive as calls to their lines rang unanswered.
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Family cries out over man taken away by military personnel in Oyo. Family cries out over man taken away by military personnel in Oyo.
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