SaharaReporters also learnt that Ngornadi suffers from ear problems, ulcer and skin diseases as a result of the torture and brutality he suffered at the hands of the DSS operatives and the Nigerian Army.
A businessman, Emeka Richmond Ngornadi, who was arrested by the Department of State Services (DSS) in April 2021 over alleged comments on social media in support of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has been threatened to be killed by DSS operatives.
SaharaReporters also learnt that Ngornadi suffers from ear problems, ulcer and skin diseases as a result of the torture and brutality he suffered at the hands of the DSS operatives and the Nigerian Army.
It was learnt that Ngornadi had been denied medical attention and threatened to be killed if he disclosed his health condition to anyone.
SaharaReporters had reported how Ngornadi who hails from Imo State was arrested while travelling from Lagos to Anambra State by DSS operatives who had reportedly been trailing him for two years.
Ngornadi was travelling to Anambra to deliver baby items and goods he bought for his pregnant wife who had called to inform him that her Estimated Delivery Date (EED) was close.
SaharaReporters gathered that the wife eventually gave birth in June 2021 but lost the baby, allegedly due to psychological trauma caused by the arrest of her husband.
The DSS had further alleged that its operatives went through Ngornadi’s call logs and discovered that he discussed with somebody about a bulletproof (jacket). But he denied the allegation and told the secret police to go and check the call logs of the person or go to the MTN office and verify.
Denying the allegation, Ngornadi had said that the person who called him was complaining about the way soldiers were killing people daily in southeastern Nigeria and that he needed spiritual protection if he (Emeka) could assist him to get it for him and his family, but he said he was a Christian and could not do such a thing.
The DSS accused him of being an IPOB member for openly expressing support for Biafra agitators and condemning security agents for allegedly killing innocent citizens in the southeastern region of the country.
Raising an alarm over the present health status of Ngornadi, a human rights activist, Paul Bem Manasseh, said that upon his arrest, he was first detained in Lagos and “tortured before he was transferred to Abuja DSS prison old ech cell 2, where I met him".
"Emeka was having ear problems, ulcer and skin diseases due to torture and neglect by the DSS officials.
“Emeka was not given any medical attention and he was threatened to be killed if anyone outside finds out or breaks the news that he's in detention,” Manasseh said.
Manasseh recalled that when the Take It Back Movement through Barrister Festus Ogun, filed a suit at the Federal High Court in Maitama, Abuja, demanding the unconditional release of Ngornadi, “the DSS accepted he is in their custody but transferred Emeka to Wawa Barracks, a high maximum prison in Niger state."
“Also, Barrister Nnemeke Ijeofor sued the Nigerian Army who denied Emeka is not in their custody but accepted working together with the Dss to enhance National security,” he added.
He noted that the presiding judge, Justice N.E. Maha of the Federal High Court, Maitama Abuja Court 8, scheduled September 29, 2022, to deliver judgment on Ngornadi’s suits even if the DSS representatives who had not appeared in court again after the first appearance didn't show up.
“On that said date for judgment, the court headed by Justice Maha refused to give judgment with no reasons and without even giving another date for judgment. The judiciary should be the hope of the common man but has become a slaughterhouse for the oppressed.
“We call all justice-loving citizens to rise in unity against the illegal detention of Emeka Ngornadi. Justice Maha shouldn't be allowed to enforce the tyranny of the executive through the connivance of the judiciary by refusing to give judgment to ensure his unconditional release,” Manasseh said.