The Nigeria Police Force and the Department of State Security Service have been accused of detaiining a Gombe-based activist Comrade Musa Ali Maishanu for threatening to organize a demonstration against the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP).
Counsel to the activist, Barrister Ibrahim Ambore Nuhu made the allegation i Gombe on Sunday.
Comrade Musa is the North East Regional Coordinator of a Non Governmental Organization (NGO) called ‘Global Pan-Africanism Network Nigeria (GPAN)
In his account of the incident while speaking with reporters, Barrister Ambore said his client threatened NAPTIP with protest for allegedly refusing to treat with justice the case of a 27-year-old woman Hauwa’u Musa popularly known as ‘Ladidi’, who was taken from the state to Adamawa since when she was a little girl and married off when she became an adult without the consent of her mother.
Ambore said his client, through his NGO GPAN, on receiving the case, handed it over to NAPTIP because it had to do with girl trafficking for investigation and necessary action
However, he alleged that the agency released the culprits involved in the case on the same day without taking appropriate action.
“She was taken to Adamawa by one woman since she was a little child who later lied to her mother that her child died in Cameroon where she travelled with her. The mother accepted the event in good faith as death is inevitable.
“Recently, the mother uncovered that the girl is still alive and was married in Adamawa State. In view of that, she was brought to Gombe for identification. The mother recognized her at once and the culprit confessed to have trafficked the girl and apologized over her act.
“However, when Comrade got the complaint, he handed it over to NAPTIP because it was a case of trafficking. But instead of investigating the matter, he alleged that they discharged the culprits the same day. It was as a result of it that he threatened that demonstration would be organized against NAPTIP to demand justice for the girl.
“Thus, NAPTIP reported him to DSS who detained him, handed him over to police CID who later arraigned him before the Chief Magistrate Court 8 in the state”, he stated.
