By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
Three Israelis are being held by the Department of State Services (DSS) on suspicion of having contact with and filming members of the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB) led by Nnamdi Kanu who is in detention awaiting court trial.
Times Of Israel reports that Rudy Rochman, Andrew Leibman, and Edouard Benaym, who were shooting a documentary in Nigeria’s South East, were arrested last week.
Their arrest is confirmed by the Foreign Ministry, which also confirmed that the Israeli Embassy in Abuja is following the case and is in contact with Nigerian authorities.
Rochman is a Zionist activist with almost 95,000 followers on Instagram. Leibman is a filmmaker and Benaym is a French-Israeli journalist.
Their families have enlisted the help of the embassies of the United States, Israel, and France in Abuja and asked the DSS to release them. They insist the film has no political motive and simply covers Jewish communities in four African countries.
SaharaReporters reports that the three men came to Nigeria to film “We Were Never Lost”, a documentary exploring Jewish communities in Kenya, Madagascar, Uganda, and Nigeria.
They took off from Ben Gurion Airport on July 5 and arrived Nigeria the next day.
Local residents said the crew was detained at a synagogue during Friday night service in Ogidi village by DSS personnel and took them to Abuja.
Ogidi is the headquarters of Idemili Council in Anambra State.
Film makers aware of political sensitivity
The film makers are aware of the political sensitivity of filming in the community.
Last Thursday, the “We Were Never Lost” Facebook page stressed that “We do not take any position on political movements as we are not here as politicians nor as a part of any governmental delegations.”
Also last week, the group met Igbo leader Chukwuemeka Eri and presented him with a framed Shiviti made in Jerusalem.
Rochman also presented another Igbo community with a Torah scroll whose cover was designed by British-Israeli street artist Solomon Souza.
The Igbo consider themselves a lost tribe of Israel.
In January, a conflict broke out in the South East between soldiers and the military wing of IPOB. The fight is ongoing.
A previous unilateral declaration of independence by the Igbos in 1967 sparked a brutal 30-month civil war that left more than a million dead.
SaharaReporters recalls that Kanu – a former London estate agent – said in a broadcast on Radio Biafra in 2018 that he was in Israel, suggesting he owed his survival to the Jewish state.
He insists that Igbos are a lost tribe of Israel and it is his mission to lead them to the promised land of Biafra.
He was charged to court for treasonable felony and granted bail in April 2017 for health reasons but jumped bail after disregarding some of the conditions given to him by the court.
On June 21 this year, federal Attorney General Abubakar Malami announced Kanu’s arrest in Kenya and extradition to Nigeria to continue his trial at the Federal High Court in Abuja.
Exploring Jewish communities
The families of the Israelis issued a statement on Wednesday in which they asked the DSS to release them, according to SaharaReporters.
The families clarified that the film makers only came for a “documentary filmmaking effort to explore the lives and customs of Jewish communities around the world.”
The statement added that “on July 9th, Rudy, Andrew, and Edouard David were detained by the Nigerian Department of State Services (DSS), which continues to hold the three film makers in its custody.
“Rudy, Andrew, and others have been working for over a year to create a documentary series titled, “We Were Never Lost” (www.wewereneverlost.com).
“The series is designed to educate viewers about the religious and cultural experiences of lesser-known Jewish communities.
“Their goal is to interview members of Jewish communities across multiple African countries, along with Jewish communities in China, India, Afghanistan, and elsewhere.
“The filmmaking team selected Nigeria as the first filming destination, and Edouard David joined the team to assist with production.
“Nigeria was selected because it has a large and diverse population, a stable political and economic environment, and the infrastructure that would allow the film crew to travel efficiently to various cities throughout the county.
Documentary not intended as political statement
“This documentary is not intended to make any political statements about the countries in which filming will take place, nor does the filmmaking team endorse any political movements.
“The team is simply there to observe the communities, learn about their experiences with Judaism, and explain some of the documentary filmmaking process to those involved with the production.
“The filmmaking crew acts as a guest visiting the country and its various communities – there are no political overtones.
“The filmmaking crew thought it would be a nice gesture to bring several gifts with cultural symbolism to the communities it planned to visit.
“In Judaism, it is considered a good deed to give the gift of a Torah, which is the Hebrew Bible from which Jewish communities around the world read their scripture.
“As such, one of the gifts that the film makers brought was a Torah that they intended to give to a Nigerian community.
“Unfortunately, members of non-state political groups have hijacked for their own purposes images of the film makers gifting a Torah to a local community.
“These individuals are distorting the intentions of the film makers in an effort to manufacture a connection to local political matters when no such connection exists.
“These politically-motivated actors have taken a simple gesture of kindness and twisted it in an attempt to create an alternate meaning.
“The families of the filmmaking team are stating and confirming that the filmmaking crew does not have any political intentions, that their visit is purely for educational filmmaking purposes, and that the film makers do not support the actions of any local groups that have tried to assign their own political meaning to the activities of the filmmaking team.
Working with US, Israeli, French embassies to get detainees freed
“We are working diligently with the U.S., Israeli and French Embassies on the matter, and we greatly appreciate the attention they have given to the situation.
“Their involvement has helped to improve the conditions of the film makers while in custody – including the delivery of Kosher meals prepared by the local Chabad.
“As a sign of appeasement, the DSS allowed the French Embassy to host Edouard David Benaym on Tuesday night to receive some medical attention, with the intention of having him return to DSS custody the next day to continue the investigation.
“We hope that the DSS will quickly conclude what the facts support – that the filmmaking team has no political motives and that the team should be released from custody as soon as possible.”
