The Amnesty International has appealed to President Bola Tinubu to release Sunday and Calista Ifedi, an Igbo couple incarcerated for three years over alleged membership of the Indigenous People of Biafra IPOB.
The couple, who were arrested from their home in Enugu State on November 23, 2021 have been in detention for over three years without access to their lawyers and family members.
The human rights body In a statement described their continued detention as an assault on the rule of law.
The organisation called for their unconditional release just as it lamented the hundreds of cases of unlawful detention in the South-East region, as well as many cases of forced disappearance of persons after arrest by security forces.
This comes days after the organisation said since the Boko Haram conflict began in the North-East region, about 10, 000 people have lost their lives in the custody of the Nigerian Army.
This was disclosed in Maiduguri by the Country Director, Isa Sanusi, who stated that abuses were committed by the military and also Boko Haram insurgents.
He lamented that despite Amnesty’s report, the military still denied involvement in abuse done by its personnel while carrying out their duty.
Sanusi revealed that a case has been filed before the International Court of Justice, ICJ, at the Hague.
He also unveiled a 144-page report, titled “Help Us Build Our Lives,” which said attacks on schools, teachers and students, including their abduction, have been committed to prevent people, especially children, from receiving what Boko Haram considers a ‘Western’ education.
The report said Boko Haram committed war crimes and other serious violations of international humanitarian law, including murder; attacks on civilians and civilian objects; indiscriminate attacks; disproportionate attacks; torture; cruel treatment; conscription (including through abductions) and use of child soldiers under the age of 15; attacks on buildings dedicated to education.
