Monday Ubani, a rights activist and former Chairman of the Lagos Branch of the Nigerian Bar Association, NBA has criticized the First Lady, Aisha Buhari for ordering the arrest of Aminu Adamu, an undergraduate of the Federal University, Dutse, Jigawa state.
Ubani said it was wrong for Aisha to order his security aides to beat up and torture the student for criticizing the First Lady on Twitter.
The magazine had earlier reported the call by Adamu’s family for their son to be released after accusing Aisha’s aides of torturing their him. The family said they are traumatized by his situation.
Not a few Nigerians have also criticised the First Lady for her intolerance, saying her predecessors reacted differently to their critics.
The suspect had been charged to court on Wednesday and now been remanded in Kuje Prison.
But speaking on Channels Television on Thursday Uba accused the police of trying the suspect secretly without the knowledge of his family, who he said have not been allowed access to him since his arrest.
He called on the First Lady to release Adamu so that he can his exam as a 500-level student of the university, adding that Nigerians will not forgive Aisha if the suspect is not allowed to do his final year exam.
“The truth out there is that he was tortured and beaten up” he said, adding that it is only in Nigeria that somebody will be arrested for criticizing the president’s wife.
He said Patience Jonathan, a former first lady was thoroughly abused while her husband Goodluck Jonathan was in office, adding that government officials must have tolerance in the manner they respond to the public.
The undergraduate was arrested two weeks ago by the Department of State Services, DSS after he posted a message on his Twitter handle accusing the First Lady of living large on the public.
Aisha Buhari, he said on Twitter “is feeding fat on poor people’s money.”
The secret police have kept him in their custody since then, prompting his family to cry out for his release earlier in the week.
The police had earlier denied having anything to do with the arrest until now. The Presidency and the First Lady have also kept quiet on the matter.
After nearly two weeks in detention, Adamu was on Tuesday arraigned before a judge, Yusuf Halilu, of the Federal Capital Territory High Court at Maitama, where he pleaded not guilty and was remanded at Suleja prison in Niger State.
In a statement filed by Festus Josiah, a police detective attached to the ‘Anti Vice Section A’ in Mararaba, Nasarawa State, as part of the prosecution’s proof of evidence, the detective disclosed that he was contacted by Buhari’s Aide De Camp, ADC), Usman Shugaba, concerning Adamu’s tweet.
Josiah who works with the office of the first lady as a phone “tracker” revealed that his team traveled to Dutse, the Jigawa State capital, on a Monday and trailed Adamu for three days before they tracked him down and arrested him.
According to him, “When we got his phone, an Iphone 7, we saw the Twitter account on the phone. We also saw the (alleged offending) post.”
He explained that the undergraduate was brought to the FCT State Criminal Investigation Department, SCID.
