Breadwinner Locked Away Since 2022 — Kogi Family Cries for Justice
The Department of State Services (DSS) is set to arraign Momoh Abubakar Otuhuo, a former community leader and proprietor of Jamaatul Muslimeen Academy in Eika, Kogi State, after holding him in detention since early 2022 without trial.
Sources told SaharaReporters on Monday that the DSS had contacted Momoh’s lawyers regarding a court appearance at the Federal High Court in Abuja, opposite the Ministry of Justice.
Momoh, a trained laboratory technician, was arrested alongside three others — trainee nurse Idris Abdulmalik and two of his secondary school students — following an alleged personal dispute with then Okehi Local Government Chairman, Ohiare.
Family members allege that DSS officials privately admit Momoh’s innocence but have been reluctant to take the case to court for fear of admitting fault. Efforts to secure his release have been met with hostility, with relatives — including his elderly mother — reportedly pushed out of DSS premises during a recent protest in Abuja.
Momoh’s detention has left his wife and children in severe hardship, with members of the local mosque committee contributing funds to help the family seek justice.
“We are calling for his unconditional release,” a family member said. “The DSS’s claims of upholding human rights and compensating victims of illegal detention do not match the reality we face.”
