Aliyu Isa has been detained by the State Security Service (SSS) since Nov. 26, 2014 when soldiers arrested him on suspicions of terrorism.
Isa who was a third-year student at Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Kaduna spent days at military detention in Zaria before he was handed over to the SSS. His relatives have since then not set their eyes on him.
“We have been traumatised since he was arrested because he is innocent. He has nothing to do with terrorism and has never been a terrorist,” the relative said.
BATTAFILES learnt that his family approached a Kaduna Federal High Court in 2016 and the court ruled a year later that the arrest and torture of Isa violated Nigeria’s constitution and directed the security agency to release him.
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The court also awarded a ₦1 million fine against the SSS. Many Years After the court directive, SSS fails to comply.
Though the directive to release Isa was made at a time when Muhammadu Buhari reiterated his commitment to ensuring compliance with the rule of law, his comments according to lawyers and human rights activists amount to a mockery of the law.
The Institute for Security Studies (ISS) has warned that trials of terrorism offences in Nigeria exposed how the country’s criminal justice system is marred with weak investigations, arbitrary arrests, unlawful detention and the absence of evidence.
As Nigeria battles with congestion of prisons as a result of an overwhelming number of awaiting trial inmates, those accused of terrorism without sufficient evidence or existing court process are in limbo.
