Isa Umar was a 300-level student of Library and Information Science at Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria, when he was detained by the secret police.
#RevolutionNow convener, Omoyele Sowore has lambasted the National Assembly over its failure to rescue a university student unlawfully detained by the Department of Secret Services (DSS) since 2014.
Isa Umar was a 300-level student of Library and Information Science at Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria, when he was detained by the secret police.
In a post on his X (formerly Twitter) handle on Friday morning, Sowore described the lawmakers in the National Assembly as toothless bulldogs for failing to take any drastic action to intervene in Isa Umar’s matter despite receiving a petition from Isa’s brother, seeking their intervention in the matter.
Sowore said, “This lawless @OfficialDSSNG of Nigeria arbitrarily detained a Nigerian student since 2014 after the Nigerian @HQNigerianArmy handed him over to them. The worst part is that these toothless bulldogs in the @nassnigeria can’t even do anything to right these wrongs besides presenting meaningless petitions, padding budgets and sharing cars and fat allowances. What a country! #RevolutionNow.”
SaharaReporters learned that Isa was arrested when his place of residence was raided on November 26, 2014, by DSS personnel for allegedly having a connection with Boko Haram terrorists in Kaduna State.
“His parents and some elders from Samaru community went to Kaduna State capital in search of him and they were told to go to Abuja, when they went to Abuja they directed them to check him in Kaduna.
“This was how they have been playing with his family's intelligence without telling them exactly where they kept him,” Anas Adam, Kaduna State Coordinator for Youth for New Nigeria said in a press statement in 2020.
Anas added that Isa’s family approached the court to declare his arrest and detention as unlawful.
The court eventually ruled that he should be released immediately in 2017 and ordered the DSS to pay him some monetary damages for detaining him for years illegally.
Anas added, “In 2017, a court ordered his release and also ordered some money to be given to them as damages but neither a dime was given to him as damages nor was he released from their custody.
“I have full assurance that if at all he was not abducted from the onset he could have graduated with a very good result because he has only one year left for him to graduate from the prestigious Ahmadu Bello University Zaria and may be by now he might have been pursuing his PhD abroad or in any of our Nigerian Universities.”