The families of the detained officers accused of a coup attempt against President Bola Ahmed Tinubu yesterday protested at the National Assembly. They called for justice to be done openly in the matter in accordance with the law.
The protesters included the spouses of the detained military officers, as well as their children and other relatives. Carrying placards with various inscriptions, they expressed frustration that their loved ones have been held for too long without due process.
The distraught families said they faced emotional and financial hardship since the officers were detained.
The wife of one of the detainees, who gave her name simply as Nana, said they were calling for fairness in their trial. “We are here to plead with the government to please charge our husbands to court. We are not saying they should just be released like that. Necessary action should be taken. But since the government said it has evidence against them, they should be charged to court. This is because they are innocent until proven guilty. If there is any evidence, let there be an open and free trial, please,” she said.
The wife of another detainee, Shefatau Almakura, said the wives of the accused officers have not been able to have access to them.
“There has not been anything since… There was no formal invitation. They were just picked up from their places of work and, since then, we have not heard from them.
“They were not even given the chance to inform us. All we saw was just a press release in the newspapers that some officers were being investigated. Since then, nobody, not even the military, has formally informed us that our husbands were under investigation.
“They were just picked up, and going to six months now, nothing has been heard from them. We are not granted access to them. Even after several appeals to even see them to be sure they are alive or even know what is happening, every effort has proved abortive,” she said. Another spouse, Halima, said life has been extremely difficult for them since her husband was detained.
“My appeal to the government is that they free our husbands. We need justice to be served for them. That is all we need. We and our children have faced five to six agonising months. It has not been easy. We have faced a lot. We are starving. Some of our children are out of school. So, we need the government to do something,” she said.
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