His younger brother, Tubonimi Amachree, said he travelled to Abuja upon getting the information of his brother’s arrest but he was denied access by the DSS.
A film director and cinematographer, Priye Amachree, arrested by the Department of State Services (DSS) over alleged links with the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and three recently detained Israeli filmmakers has been prevented from seeing his family members, two weeks after his arrest.
According to People’s Gazette, his younger brother, Tubonimi Amachree, said he travelled to Abuja upon getting the information of his brother’s arrest but he was denied access by the DSS.
“I stayed there in Abuja for one week and was going to their office to see my brother but they refused to let me see him.
“I even went with a lawyer yet they refused and demanded I write a letter to the director of SSS, requesting to see my brother which they say would take two weeks before my letter will be responded to,” he stated.
A copy of the letter addressed to the DSS Director-General signed by Tubonimi revealed the letter was received by an official of the agency simply identified as Mrs Sarah on August 4.
The letter appealed to the secret police boss to grant the family permission to see their son.
Tubonimi asked well-meaning Nigerians to help demand the release of his brother as well as allow the filmmaker to have access to his family.[story_link align="left"]97154[/story_link]
SaharaReporters had reported that Amachree, who is a Director at HomeBase Media in Jos, the Plateau State capital, was picked up by the secret police around 4.30pm on July 28 on Oshikomaya Street, off CMD Road in Lagos.
“Amachree was linked to the Israelis that were arrested, detained and recently released by the DSS but till date, no one seems to know where he was taken,” a source had said.
SaharaReporters also leant that Amachree assisted the Israelis as a tour guide and arranged logistics for them during their visit to Nigeria.
Meanwhile, according to information on Amachree on his LinkedIn page, his company “provides multimedia solutions ranging from documentary production, animation, TV /Radio production, Design + print”.
“We produce and plan your media project,” it added.
SaharaReporters had reported how three Israeli filmmakers were arrested by the DSS for alleged links with IPOB.
The Israelis, Rudy Rochman, a Zionist activist; Noam Leibman, filmmaker, and David Benaym, French-Israeli journalist, were said to be arrested on July 9 when they visited Ogidi village in the Idemili North Local Government Area of Anambra state.
They were said to have left Ben Gurion Airport, Israel, on July 5 and arrived in Nigeria the following day to film a documentary titled, ‘We Were Never Lost’, which seeks to explore Jewish communities in African countries such as Kenya, Madagascar, Uganda, and Nigeria.
The Israeli filmmakers were released on Friday, July 30 after spending 20 days in the custody of the DSS in Abuja.
It was learnt that they were released after investigation showed they had no link with members of IPOB, whose leader, Nnamdi Kanu, is currently standing trial for charges including terrorism and treasonable felony.