Arrest: Prof Usman Yusuf’s family writes US, seeks diplomatic intervention
The wife and sons of the former executive secretary of the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA), Prof Usman Yusuf, have written to the United States Government for diplomatic intervention towards the quick release of their father. The letter dated February 18, 2025 by the wife, Iftikar Abdallah Yusuf, and addressed to the American Embassy, is titled, “Re: Request For Consular Assistance […]
usman yusuf
The wife and sons of the former executive secretary of the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA), Prof Usman Yusuf, have written to the United States Government for diplomatic intervention towards the quick release of their father.
The letter dated February 18, 2025 by the wife, Iftikar Abdallah Yusuf, and addressed to the American Embassy, is titled, “Re: Request For Consular Assistance For My Husband Professor Usman Yusuf,” and the letter jointly written by the three sons, Abdullah, Adnan and Luqman to the Senator for Chicago, Illinois, USA, Senator Richard J. Durbin is titled: “Re: Request for the immediate release of our father, Prof Usman Yusuf”
He pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Justice Chinyere Nwecheonwu on February 12 adjourned the bail ruling to February 27 while reminding the defendant to the Nigerian Correctional Service facility in Kuje, FCT.
While noting that the family are dual citizens of the USA and Nigeria, she requested consular assistance for her husband, whom she said was being unlawfully held and politically persecuted.
“My husband’s constitutionally guaranteed rights have been repeatedly violated by President Bola Tinubu’s government by being forcefully abducted from his home by heavily armed men of the EFCC without a formal invitation to appear before the commission and abducting him without an arrest warrant, denying him phone calls to his family and lawyers, denying him bail and incarceration in Kuje Prison,” she said.
In their letter, the children raised concerns over their father’s health and alleged that he has not been allowed access to his doctors.
“Our father’s abduction and detention by the EFCC, denial of bail and incarceration in Kuje Prison are nothing but political persecution because he has been a very vocal critic of President Tinubu’s economic policies that have been inflicting unbearable hardships on Nigerians,” they wrote.