By Hassan Zaggi
The Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Police Command has denied its alleged arrest of the convener of the Bring Back Our Girls Group (BBOG), Dr. Oby Ezekwesili and other members of the organisation.
In her tweets and interview on Tuesday, Ezekwesili said that she was arrested and detained by the police.
She told journalists in Abuja that, a�?Today (yesterday) we gathered to do our usual march and the Nigeria Police refused for us to leave the Unity Fountain. Some of our colleagues have already gone and they are going to be giving their press statement there.
a�?Those of us they have locked in here, in particular, they have refused that I should move.
a�?They have built a human prison and have violated my fundamental human right to freedom of movement and association and therefore I want it to be on record that the government of President Muhammadu Buhari has infringed the constitution by violating my fundamental right to freedom of movement and association and this cannot be allowed to happen in a democracy.a�?
But, in a statement issued by the commanda��s spokesman, Manzah Anjuguri, the Police said that, a�?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.
a�?The members of the group were addressed by the FCT Commissioner of Police, CP Sadiq Abubakar Bello, who reiterated the commitment of the command to protecting life and property and enjoined the Bring Back Our Girlsa�� members to go about their lawful businesses,a�? he said.
However, the former minister of education said that, a�?if there is anyone there listening to this, they must tell President Buhari to instruct the Inspector-General of the Police (IGP), Ibrahim Idris, to let the officers who have imprisoned me in broad day light, to let me go about my business.
a�?I am a law abiding citizen of this country. I see no reason why my right should be violated. And so right now I will continue to insist that these officers allow me to move out of this Unity Fountain.a�?
In a series of posts on her Twitter handle, @obyezeks, Ezekwesili insisted that she was arrested alongside some members of the BBOG group.
She said that Aisha Yesufu, Maureen Kabrik, Jeff Okoroafor and four others were also arrested.
We didna��t arrest Oby Ezekwesili – Police
