By Emeke Alexander
A petty trader, Mrs Evelyn Silver has carried out over the continued detention of her husband, Mr Endurance Silver, by men of the Military Police attached to the Sector 1 Joint Task Force, Effurun, Delta State.
Mrs Silver’s cry is contained in a petition dated Monday, September 6, 2021, by the Ikimi Oghenejabor & Co to the Sector Commander, Sector 1, Joint Task Force (JTF), Effurun Barracks, Delta State and another one dated Wednesday, September 8, 2021, to the Commander, Joint Task Force (JTF), Operation Delta Safe, Yenagoa, Bayelsa State.
In both petitions, Mrs Silver who leaves at Agbarha-Otor in Ughelli North Local Government Area of Delta State, said her husband, a commercial transporter, has been in custody since March 20, 2021, when he was arrested by men of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) along the East/West Expressway by E.J. Fast Food at Otovwodo in Ugheli, on a trumped-up charge of vandalising an Oil Well Head in the company of one Mr Isaiah Akrah.
She said her husband was handed over together with his Volkswagen Golf 3 Wagon with registration number: SKL 998 AA to men of the Military Police attached to the Sector 1 Joint Task Force, Effurun, Delta state, where he has been held till date in very deplorable condition.
The mother of four children in the petitions said the following day March 21, 2021, the said Mr Isaiah Akrah was also arrested by men of the Military Police attached to Sector 1 and was subsequently released after a month on terms while her husband continued to languish in their custody.
According to her, an earlier letter that was written by the law firm to the Sector 1 Commander, Colonel Rabiu Garuba, to effect the release of her husband unconditionally or be handed over to the Police authorities for investigation after six months of his detention was ignored.
Mrs Silver’s solicitor, Oghenejabor Ikimi, has therefore demanded the immediate release of her husband, Mr Endurance Silver or in the alternative, he should be transferred to the Police authorities for a thorough investigation.
Ikimi said further detention of Mr Endurance Silver will lead to seeking lawful redress at the High Court, Effurun, Delta State against the Joint Task Force and the Nigerian Army for the enforcement of the fundamental rights of Mr Silver.
“We trust you would abide by our above explanations as justice delayed is justice denied,” Ikimi concluded in the petitions
The Chief of Army Staff, Army Headquarters, Abuja and the Executive Secretary, National Human Rights Commission, Abuja, were copied in the petition to the Commander, Joint Task Force (JTF), Operation Delta Safe, Yenagoa, Bayelsa State.
