A human rights lawyer, Chief Malcolm Omirhobo has decried the arrest and detention of one Mathais Ezeaku by the police for allegedly being rude to the spiritual director of Zion Prayer Ministry, Evangelist Ebuka Obi on social media.
He, therefore, called on the Police Inspector General (IGP) to release the detainee within 24 hours or face him in court.
His submission is contained in a petition he sent to the IGP over the ‘unlawful detention’.
“Ezeaku is founder of a charity organisation called, Igbo Love themselves Charity Foundation, Onitsha, Anambra State, which he uses to propagate African Religion, Tradition, History and Culture to his Igbo folks, Nigerians and Africans at large,” he said.
The petitioner alleged that his client was arrested like a common criminal without a warrant of arrest and/or court order and paraded in his neigbourhood before he was taken from Onitsha to SARS Headquarters Akwuzu in Anambra State.
He alleged that his client was detained at the Force Criminal Investigation Department at the pleasure of the Deputy Inspector General of Police on a phony complaint lodged against him by one Mr. Aku Zion, a member of Obi Zion Ministry on the ground that he spoke rudely to his spiritual prophet on social media and therefore ‘has committed an offence’.
The petitioner said: “We have searched the laws of Nigeria particularly the Nigerian constitution and the criminal code and found no offence committed by our client and therefore humbly submit that continued detention of our client is a brazen violation of his fundamental rights to the dignity of human person, personal liberty, freedom of thought conscience and religion, freedom of speech and freedom of movement, and therefore illegal, unlawful and unconstitutional.
Our client is a law abiding citizen and has not committed any crime or violated any law of the land to warrant his continued detention.
We are accordingly demanding order for his unconditional and immediate release with apologies from the Nigerian Police Force within 24 hours of your receipt of this letter, failing which we have the firm instruction of our client to approach a court of competent jurisdiction to enforce his fundamental right.”
