‘Where Are They?’ –Amnesty Queries Nigerian Military, DSS Over Enforced Disappearances Of Enugu Couple, Imo Man In South-East

The global human rights organisation, Amnesty International Nigeria, has again raised concerns over the continued enforced disappearance of one Ikechukwu Henry from Orlu in Imo State and Mr. Sunday Ifedi and Mrs. Calista Ifedi, a couple from Ezeagu community in Enugu State, by the Nigerian military and Department of State Services (DSS) since 2021.

In a post shared on X on Monday, the organisation disclosed that Ikechukwu Henry was arrested by Nigerian Army soldiers on August 23, 2021, around 2:00 a.m. at his Garki, Enugu residence and has remained missing to date.

Similarly, it noted that the Department of State Services (DSS), on November 23, 2021, arrested Mr. and Mrs. Sunday Ifedi at their home and likewise disappeared them, without ever bringing them before a court of law or charging them with any offence.

The organisation, therefore, called on both the military and the DSS to immediately disclose the whereabouts of those arrested on the specified dates and times.

“@HQNigerianArmy: Where is Ikechukwu Henry from Orlu in Imo state who was taken by soldiers on 23 August 2021 at about 2:00am from his residence at Garki Enugu?” it wrote.

“The Hilux vehicle that took him drove off to Nigerian army 82 Division Enugu. Since then nothing has been heard about him. @HQNigerianArmy: Where is Ikechukwu Henry?”

It added, “@OfficialDSSNG: Where are Mr. Sunday Ifedi and Mrs. Calista Ifedi, a couple from Ezeagu community in Ezeagu LGA of Enugu state, your operatives took from their home in Enugu on 23 November 2021?”

In a recent report, Amnesty International said that since March 2011, Nigerian soldiers and militiamen have murdered, tortured, and abused thousands of detainees.

The report says an estimated 1,200 people were extrajudicially killed, and about 7,000 young men and boys died while in military custody.

In the chilling report, the global human rights organisation revealed that hundreds of young people have been disappeared without any traces for professing Biafra restoration in the South East.

Amnesty also says military commanders either sanctioned the abuses or ignored the fact that they were taking place. The rights group says it based its report on years of research and analysis that included leaked internal military documents and interviews with hundreds of people.

But the Nigerian military authority has rejected the report, claiming that it was aimed at undermining the army’s resolve to defeat terrorist acts carried out by the Islamist militant group Boko Haram.

The Army spokesman, Major General Chris Olukolade, who dismissed the accusations, had assured Nigerians that the military would not be deterred in the fight to rid the country of Boko Haram militants, despite the allegations.

Olukolade says the rights group appears to have an agenda to undermine the army’s resolve to combat terrorism in the country.