Apo killings: We’re denied access to detained victims

Members of the House of Representatives also lamented that despite their personal efforts to meet the detained persons, the security operatives have been denying them access condemning the inability of the security agents to reveal the identities of those detained. Some relatives of those detained who spoke to BBC Hausa Service yesterday also expressed their […]

Members of the House of Representatives also lamented that despite their personal efforts to meet the detained persons, the security operatives have been denying them access condemning the inability of the security agents to reveal the identities of those detained.
Some relatives of those detained who spoke to BBC Hausa Service yesterday also expressed their fears as to what might befall the victims, saying they do not have connection with the Boko Haram sect.
Speaking to Daily Trust on phone yesterday a Reps member, Bilyaminu Yusuf Shinkafi (PDP, Zamfara) said all efforts made by some lawmakers to see the detained victims were unsuccessful, adding that he could not tell their whereabouts.
“We’ve been making contacts about those that are said to be detained but in vain. Even before we went on this Sallah break, the Senate was on top of it. We’re really concerned about the situation and we know the agony that the victims’ families are going through.”
Bilyaminu said that whatever the victims are suspected of, they have the right to have access to their relatives, adding that they also have the right to seek legal support or protection as enshrined in the constitution.
“We’re not working alone; we’re working with some lawyers and other human rights activists to see that justice is done on the case. Some of those that were injured have been discharged from the hospital,” he added.
But the secretary of the Garki Modern Market Traders Association who is from Zamfara State, Murtala Abubakar Moriki, said it was 13 of the victims that are missing maintaining that they still do not know their whereabouts as the security agencies have not disclosed anything to them.
Also, another Reps member of the House Ashiru Tukur Idris told the BBC Hausa Service yesterday that despite their efforts, they could not secure access to the detained victims.