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CIVIL RIGHTS & DEVELOPMENT ORGANISATION (CRIDO)
# 17 POWERLINE ROAD, OFF FAULKS ROAD, ABA 08037087483, 08035505689.
DATE: 08/02/06.
PRESS RELEASE
RE: INVITATION, UNLAWFUL ARREST, DETENTION AND CONTINUED DETENTION OF BARRISTER. UCHE OKWUKWU BY THE SSS AT ABUJA.
Our Executive Director, Barrister Uche Okwukwu was on the night of Tuesday, February 6, 2006 invited to the Government House, Port Harcourt by the Chief Security Officer to the Rivers State Government, Mr. Larry Pepple for a chat with him and the Governor, Sir Dr. Peter Odili at about 9.00pm in the night of the said 06/02/06.
After the said discussion Barrister Uche Okwukwu made for home but was accosted by men of the State Security Services (SSS) at the government House Gate and taken to an unknown destination at Abuja where he is been kept incommunicado till date.
CRIDO states as follows:
That the way and manner of the purported invitation by Mr. Larry Pepple and the subsequent arrest, detention and continued detention of Barrister Uche Okwukwu in an undisclosed place is very uncivil, illegal, unconstitutional, unlawful and infringes on his Fundamental Human Rights and his Right to Human Dignity as enshrined in Section 34 & 35 of the Nigerian Constitution and the African Charter on Human & Peoples Right.
That Barrister Uche Okwukwu�s whereabouts should be made public as he is not a criminal and had never done any thing to warrant such a manner of treatment.
That the search at the house Barrister Uche Okwukwu for about 6 hours in Port Harcourt on Wednesday, February 7, 2006 and the harassment of his Staff at his Law Chambers in Port Harcourt and the seizure of his International Passport is unlawful, unconstitutional, illegal and unacceptable to CRIDO and should be suspended immediately.
That we believe that Barrister Uche Okwukwu�s arrest is not unconnected to his Legal assistance to Alhaji Mujahid Asari Dokubo the incarcerated Leader of the Niger Delta Peoples� Volunteer Force (NDPVF) and his order roles as the Legal Adviser to the Movement for the Actualization of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) and his very believe and membership of the Pro National Conference Organisation (PRONACO) etc, which are his legitimate duties and belief of the people.
That Barrister Uche Okwukwu is only rendering his Legal services to the said bodies and also has his right to freedom of Association as enshrined in the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the African Charter on Human & Peoples Right.
That Barrister Uche Okwukwu should be released unconditionally and an apology rendered to him.
That our fear is predicated upon the fact that we fear that he may disappear permanently due to the manner of his of his arrest detention and continued detention in an unknown place by the men of the SSS.
That the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo should call the SSS, other Security Operatives, their agents and privy to Order and avert the over heating-up of the Niger Delta, South-East and the entire Nation with these subsequent arrests and incommunicado detention of Regional Leaders and men of proven integrity from the Southern States of the Federation.
We believe that good counsel will prevail and the immediate and unconditional release of Barrister Uche Okwukwu be effected to calm the situation in the land.
A STITCH IN TIME SAVES NINE.
SIGN:
_________________ ____________________ Kalu Uche Kalu Umana O. Aniefok Research Officer, CRIDO. Legal Adviser, CRIDO.
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