The Coalition of Civil Society for Good Governance (CCSGG), has called for the immediate release of Colonel Ahmadu Usman Suleiman, who was detained by the Directorate of Secret Service (DSS), in Kogi state for alleged criminal offence.
The Civil Society group made the call on Wednesday in Abuja, during a world press conference, lamenting the hasty manner in which the Colonel was tried and prosecuted, saying it was a setup.
CCSGG National Coordinator, Okpanachi Jacob, noted that Col. Suleiman untill his recent arrest has never been involved or arrested for any criminal offence, adding the event playing out is politically motivated.
Jacob said, “we are perturbed by the following scenario that surrounds his arrest, as his arrest was followed with immediate prosecution without proper investigation by all standard.
“While these issues bothered the public it is important that we state here that it is seemingly more political even though we do not want to make categorical statement as we expect an outcome of a more effective investigation.
“In the light of this we demand the immediate and unconditional release of Col AU Suleiman Babanawa pending a proper investigation on the subject matter.
“Col. A U. Suleiman is a man of unquestionable character and his arrest have evoked mind boggling question amongst the civil populace within Kogi state and Nigeria as a nation, this been so as he (Babanawa) has paid his dues in humanitarianism and this tantamount to undue humiliation by the state agents either by design or by default.
A representative of the family, Dr. Barnabas Suleiman reiterated that, his arrest is a result of the conspiracy between the government of the Kogi state, governor Yahaya Bello, DSS and the Navy in the state, accusing the agencies of being grossly compromised.
Suleiman said, “This arrest is happening on a day the Colonel was coming to Abuja for the APC gubernatorial aspirants screening shows that it was a politically motivated arrest.
“As a representative of the family member I call on the military hierarchy, National Security Adviser and federal government to quickly address the evil that is going on in Kogi state so that the actual thing be done.
“Let the DG of DSS address and investigate properly the truth of this conspiracy by Kogi state government and other elements who are trying to frustrate the electoral process in the state and address it.
The son of the retired Colonel explained his ordeal while trying to get Justice, he said, “when we got the news, I reach out to some personalities in the state who feign ignorance, some stating it could be a kidnap case until the DSS put up a press statement to say some gang of criminal were arrested and one of them was carrying a pump action.
“We were told that this is a political case that the governor is interested. We have made some efforts to speak with persons in position of Power which has not yielded any positive effect.
“This is a form of political persecution people just try to be dodgy about it but what is clear Is that a senior military officer has been arrested and held incommunicado without charges against him.
“The military should be involved as this is one of their own, as he was described as a retired Army Colonel, this is not just an indictment on my father but also on the military institution which my father has worked for.”