A Germany-based Nigerian, Ahmed Ibrahim, was arrested and detained by the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) at the Muritala Mohammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos for allegedly being on the wanted list of terrorists. Ibrahim, who visited Nigeria for the last Ramadan, was brutalized on his way back to Munich, Germany, over allegation that his name was among those on a wanted list of terrorists by the Presidency.
The 32-year-old man claimed three officers of the NIS descended on him with one hitting him with a rod on his head, which is currently bandaged while pictures taken in the cell showed his blood-soaked clothes.
According to him, his ordeal began when he arrived the terminal to undergo his departure formalities and was accosted by immigration officers who later seized his passport and made him to miss the Air France flight to Paris en route to the German capital.
Ibrahim was made to sleep on the floor of one of the offices as he was told he would need clearance from the Presidency to leave the country as his name tallies with that of a terrorist on the wanted list of the Nigerian government. He was later taken to Abuja on Tuesday only to be detained in the evening having been told he would return to proceed on his journey to Europe.
Ibrahim later called his relatives to inform them that he was due to be kept incommunicado by the authorities. His elder brother, Abdullahi, told journalists yesterday that efforts to secure his release and claim of innocence proved abortive as one of the officers simply identified as Alaje insisted on transferring the suspect to the NIS headquarters in Abuja.
He said: “Ibrahim called us on Saturday night after we saw him off that his passport had been seized by immigration officers who claimed that his name was on the wanted list by the Presidency. We ran down only to be told by one Alaje and Umar who were on duty that the case must be taken to Abuja for clearance. They asked us to return on Monday with a return ticket for our brother and one immigration officer who will accompany him.
“We were told to return with money for return tickets for him and one officer who will accompany him to Abuja to ascertain his innocence. But by Sunday night he called again to say he was being beaten by officers on duty, we ran down again from Olambe in Ogun State only to meet him in the cell with his clothes soak in blood while his head was bandaged where he said one officer hit him with a rod.”
Abdullahi added that the intervention of the Lagos State House of Assembly member representing Apapa Constituency 1, Hon. Egberongbe Mufutau, could not secure the release of the suspect. Ibrahim was taken to Abuja on Tuesday only to be detained why his mobile phone and other valuable were confiscated.
Abdullahi, who was on his way to Abuja yesterday, told journalists that immigration officers asked him to allow the case be handled internally or he would be dealt with as he said the Deputy Controller of Immigration at the MMIA, and another top officer he identify as King had pleaded that his brother was mistaken for a wanted terrorist. The NIS promised to issue a statement on the matter but was yet to do at press time.
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The 32-year-old man claimed three officers of the NIS descended on him with one hitting him with a rod on his head, which is currently bandaged while pictures taken in the cell showed his blood-soaked clothes.
According to him, his ordeal began when he arrived the terminal to undergo his departure formalities and was accosted by immigration officers who later seized his passport and made him to miss the Air France flight to Paris en route to the German capital.
Ibrahim was made to sleep on the floor of one of the offices as he was told he would need clearance from the Presidency to leave the country as his name tallies with that of a terrorist on the wanted list of the Nigerian government. He was later taken to Abuja on Tuesday only to be detained in the evening having been told he would return to proceed on his journey to Europe.
Ibrahim later called his relatives to inform them that he was due to be kept incommunicado by the authorities. His elder brother, Abdullahi, told journalists yesterday that efforts to secure his release and claim of innocence proved abortive as one of the officers simply identified as Alaje insisted on transferring the suspect to the NIS headquarters in Abuja.
He said: “Ibrahim called us on Saturday night after we saw him off that his passport had been seized by immigration officers who claimed that his name was on the wanted list by the Presidency. We ran down only to be told by one Alaje and Umar who were on duty that the case must be taken to Abuja for clearance. They asked us to return on Monday with a return ticket for our brother and one immigration officer who will accompany him.
“We were told to return with money for return tickets for him and one officer who will accompany him to Abuja to ascertain his innocence. But by Sunday night he called again to say he was being beaten by officers on duty, we ran down again from Olambe in Ogun State only to meet him in the cell with his clothes soak in blood while his head was bandaged where he said one officer hit him with a rod.”
Abdullahi added that the intervention of the Lagos State House of Assembly member representing Apapa Constituency 1, Hon. Egberongbe Mufutau, could not secure the release of the suspect. Ibrahim was taken to Abuja on Tuesday only to be detained why his mobile phone and other valuable were confiscated.
Abdullahi, who was on his way to Abuja yesterday, told journalists that immigration officers asked him to allow the case be handled internally or he would be dealt with as he said the Deputy Controller of Immigration at the MMIA, and another top officer he identify as King had pleaded that his brother was mistaken for a wanted terrorist. The NIS promised to issue a statement on the matter but was yet to do at press time.
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