The rights group noted that the couple had since remained in solitary confinement for over one year without presenting them before any competent court of jurisdiction anywhere in the country.
A human rights organisation, the Civil Liberties Organisation (CLO) has called on the Nigerian secret police, the Department of State Services (DSS) to free an Enugu State couple, Mr. Ifedi Sunday and his wife, Callister, unlawfully arrested and detained for over one year without trial for justifiable reason.
CLO in a statement issued on Saturday by Head of Enugu State office, Paul Odimegwu, decried that the children of the victims informed the organisation that their parents were arrested on November 23, 2021, for no reason given to them as per offence they had committed.
The rights group noted that the couple had since remained in solitary confinement for over one year without presenting them before any competent court of jurisdiction anywhere in the country.
The organisation noted in a petition addressed to the Director-General of DSS that the children of the couple informed the organisation that their parents were arrested by the personnel of DSS Enugu office by 1am on the fateful day.
It also noted that the children said their parents were taken to Enugu office of DSS where they were first detained and subsequently released; meanwhile, shortly after, they were rearrested and taken to DSS office, Abuja, for further interrogation.
"Ifedi Echezona, and Ifedi peace informed us that since the arrest of their parents, they have not heard from them nor talked with them for over one year now," the group said.
The petition also hinted that the children also informed the organisation that they had made several efforts to visit the DSS office in Abuja to know where they were kept but all efforts yielded no result.
CLO added that they were also informed that a lawyer who embarked on a search of the whereabouts of the victims was informed that the suspects were no more detained in Abuja and their case had been transferred to Minna in Niger State.
The organisation said the family of the victims were only demanding that their parents be released or be charged to court.
The organisation therefore, requested that the detained couple should be brought to justice or be freed from detention.
"CLO is herein using this medium to call for the release of these couple to reunite with their family who are suffering from malnutrition and hunger."