The Federal Government has been enjoined to immediately release the leader of the #BringBackOurGirls Movement, Mrs. Naomi Mutah, who was arrested in the early hours of Monday and has since been detained by the Police.
According to the Media Chair of the Movement, Rotimi Olawale, the latest information available to the movement was that Mrs Mutah has been moved away from the Asokoro Police Station to the Force headquarters.
He gave account of how the woman who has sustained the #BringBackOurGirls protest at Fountain Square, Abuja was arrested and how the police declined her bail.
Olawale states, “We were notified at 6am by Mr Tsambido Hosea, the Leader of the Chibok Community resident in Abuja, that Mrs. Naomi Mutah had been detained at the Asokoro Police Station at the instance of the First Lady following a meeting she had attended in the Presidential Villa with the President’s wife.
“According to the Leader of the Chibok Community in Abuja, Mrs. Naomi Mutah and Mrs. Saratu were delegated to represent women from the Chibok Women Development Association in Maiduguri who were invited for the meeting but couldn’t make it due to the short notice.
“The records at the Police Station showed that she had been booked in at 3:20am. She had attended the meeting on delegated authority of the Chibok-based mothers of the abducted girls alongside Mrs. Saratu Angus.
“Mrs. Saratu Angus who accompanied Mrs. Naomi Mutah to the meeting, and was also taken to the Asokoro Police Station, was released at 3.30am
“We arrived the Asokoro Police Station at 8 am with our legal representative, Femi Adedeji from Femi Falana’s Chamber.
“We, alongside her husband and members of the Chibok Committee resident in Abuja, requested to commence the process for her bail.
“Our lawyer was informed that neither the Divisional Police Officer, Crime Prevention Officer nor the Investigating Police Officer was available to attend to us.
“Subsequently, we identified the DPO who responded that he had more pressing issues to handle.
“To the utter dismay of her husband, the Chibok community member and some of our members, some officials arrived at 11am, eight hours after her detention claiming to be from the Presidency and took her away with the DPO to the office of the Inspector General of Police.
“They prevented anyone to accompany her.
“We hereby call on the Federal Government to immediately cause the release by the Nigerian Police of Mrs. Naomi Mutah”.
About three weeks ago, over 200 girls of Government Secondary School, Chibok in Borno state were abducted by men suspected to be Boko Haram. While some of them escaped, about 180 are still missing, compelling the mothers and civil society groups to embark on protest across the country.
Meanwhile, police authorities have said that Mrs Naomi Mutah was never arrested or detained as being speculated in some quarters.
According to Force Public Relations Officer, Frank Mba, the leader of #BringBackOurGirls campaign, Mrs Naomi Mutah, was only invited and interviewed as part of measures aimed at getting information that could help security operatives as they intensify search for the abducted girls.
Mba’s statement reads, “As part of measures geared towards eliciting useful information that could help security agents in the ongoing effort at finding and rescuing female students recently abducted by terrorists, suspected to be Boko-Haram, in Chibok, Borno State, Police Operatives this morning, 05/05/2014 invited one Mrs Nyadar Naomi Mutah, a native of Chibok and Deputy Director at the National Directorate of Employment, Abuja.
“It was purely an interactive and fact finding interview. Mrs Nyadar cooperated with the Police in the course of the interview and was immediately allowed to return home to her loved ones. She was never arrested nor detained as being wrongly speculated in some quarters.
“Meanwhile, the Police and other security agencies are leaving no stone unturned at ensuring that the abducted school children are rescued”.
