BEVERLY HILLS, January 24, (THEWILL) – The Nigeria Police Force has denied arresting Oby Ezekwesili, a former Minister of Education and Co-Convener of the Bring Back Our Girls (BBOG) movement.
THEWILL recalls that Ezekwesili, on her Twitter handle, @obyezeks, had revealed on Tuesday that she was arrested alongside some members of the BBOG group named, Aisha Yesufu, Ms Maureen Kabrik, Jeff Okoroafor, and four others.
“P @MBuhari: I have been ARRESTED along with rest of our BBOG members and NOW DETAINED without a charge by the .@PoliceNG. WE are detained at the FCT command. The Police here has REFUSED to tell us why we are DETAINED. What Are WE Demanding? BringBackOurGirlsNOW!!!!!!!,” she tweeted.
“President .@MBuhari members of our BBOG Movement @BBOG_Nigeria HAVE BEEN ARRESTED BY OUR IG of .@PoliceNG . WE ARE ALL WAITING TO BE ARRESTED SINCE it has become an OFFENSE to DEMAND THAT YOU KEEP YOUR PROMISE TO RESCUE ALL OUR CHIBOKGIRLS.
“President @MBuhari The police officers deployed by IG of .@PoliceNG is VIOLATING my FREEDOM of MOVEMENT by LOCKING ME IN inbroad day light at the Unity Fountain. THIS IS A DEMOCRACY. Officer Tina Ishaya just again REFUSED TO LET ME OUT OF THEIR WALL.
“The FG of President .@MBuhari instructed the IG of @PoliceNG to DETAIN ME AND OTHER MEMBERS of @BBOG_Nigeria here at the Unity Fountain. Police men and women have BUILT AN IMPREGNABLE WALL and LOCKED ME IN. I have asked them more than 30 times to LET ME OUT and they REFUSED.”
But in a statement issued after the incident by Anjuguri Manzah, Spokesman of the command, he said the force never arrested the individuals explaining that they were only taken to their command headquarters to ensure there was no breakdown of law and order.
“The FCT police command wishes to clear the air and set the record straight that it did not arrest or detain Prof. Oby Ezekwesili and some members of the Bring Back Our Girls group as being speculated on some social media platforms,” the statement read.
“It is pertinent to state that they were only brought to the Command to ensure there was no breakdown of law and order as some members of the group reacted violently and broke down security barriers set up by the police to restrict their protest to Unity Fountain.
“The members of the group were addressed by the Commissioner of Police FCT, CP Sadiq Bello who reiterated the commitment of the Command to protect lives and property and enjoined the Bring Back Our Girls members to go about their lawful businesses.
“After briefing by the Commissioner of Police, the members of the group left the Command.”
