AGF petitioned over 5-year secret detention of woman before arraignment for terrorism
The Rule of Law and Accountability Advocacy Centre (RULAAC) has petitioned the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice over the reported five-year incommunicado detention and subsequent terrorism prosecution of a 35-year-old woman, Ozioma Elizabeth Onyeaka.
RULAAC, in the petition, called for an urgent and independent review of Onyeaka’s arrest, detention and prosecution, as well as a broader inquiry into the reported prolonged detention of persons at Wawa Barracks in Niger State.
According to information provided to the organisation by a member of Onyeaka’s family, she disappeared more than five years ago after attending a night church programme. Her family reportedly searched police, military and custodial facilities but received no information about her whereabouts and eventually feared that she had been kidnapped or killed.
The organisation said the family only recently discovered that Onyeaka was alive and had reportedly been held at Wawa Barracks before being brought before the Federal High Court in Abuja in connection with terrorism allegations.
RULAAC said it had not independently established the precise date or circumstances of her arrest, the agency responsible for her detention, the date of her transfer to Wawa Barracks or the details of the court proceedings.
It urged the Attorney-General to establish when and where Onyeaka was arrested, the allegations that led to her arrest, her complete custody history and the judicial authority for each period of her detention.
The organisation also wants the authorities to explain why her family was allegedly not informed of her arrest and whereabouts for about five years and three months, and whether she had access to legal counsel or communication with her family during the period.
RULAAC said the case raised wider concerns because of similarities with the reported detention of Sunday Ifedi and his late wife, Calista, who were allegedly arrested in Enugu in 2021 and later traced to Wawa Barracks.
According to RULAAC, Ifedi reportedly spent more than four years in detention before his release, while Calista allegedly died in custody and was buried at the facility. The organisation said these allegations should also be independently investigated.
RULAAC stressed that it was not asking the authorities to terminate a legitimate terrorism prosecution or shield anyone from justice. It said that where credible and admissible evidence exists, the case should proceed before a competent court with full observance of the accused’s fair-trial rights.
However, it urged the Attorney-General to facilitate Onyeaka’s release if there is insufficient evidence to sustain the charges and to ensure that she has immediate access to her family and legal counsel.
The organisation further called for an investigation into whether other persons arrested during security operations in the Southeast had been transferred to Wawa Barracks or other facilities without their families being informed.
It also urged the Federal Government to establish how many detainees may have died in custody at Wawa Barracks, their identities and causes of death, their burial locations and whether their families were notified.
RULAAC said national security operations must comply with constitutional and human-rights safeguards, arguing that once the State takes a person into custody, it has a responsibility to account for that person’s whereabouts, safety, welfare and legal rights.
The organisation said the reported case of Onyeaka raised a broader question about other families who may still be searching for relatives who are, or were, in the custody of the Nigerian State.
