Lawyers representing detained Nigerian professors have decried their prolonged detention in Cameroon.
In a statement issued Thursday by the legal team representing the detained professors, Joseph Fru lamented that the significant delays was due to the non-appearance of crucial officials from the Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA), the Cameroonian High Commissioner, the UNHCR Coordinator, the Attorney-General of the Federation, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The legal team noted that the delay was highlighted at the recent hearing of the public petitions committee in the National Assembly.
It noted that the committee chairman had pledged to explore further legal actions, including contacting the Solicitor General, to address these delays.
It said: “The prolonged detention of Nigerian professors in Cameroon has encountered significant delays owing to the non-appearance of crucial officials from the Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA), the Cameroonian High Commissioner, the UNHCR Coordinator, the Attorney-General of the Federation, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
“The presence of the absent officials is critical to ensuring transparency and allowing them to present their side of the story.”
The legal team recalled that the Federal High Court of Abuja, in its judgment No FHC/ABJ/CS/85/2018 dated March 1, 2019, and the UN Human Rights Committee’s Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD) in its Communication 59/2022 on October 14, 2022, have both called for the release and compensation of the detainees.
It lamented that despite these rulings, the professors remained in custody.
The detained professors are: Sisiku Julius Ayuke Tabe ,Shufai Blaise Sevidzem Berinyuy,,Prof Awasum Augustine Cheh ,Dr Henry Tata Kimeng ,Barr Eyambe E Elias EBAI ,Dr Cornelius Kwanga Njikimbi, Dr. Fidelis Ndeh Nche ,Dr Egbengu Ogork, Mr. Nfor Ngala Nfor and Mr. Tassang Wilfred Forbang.
The legal team stressed that it was the same strength that reinforces the Judgments of three separate Judges of the Federal High Court in Abuja in 2019 and Opinion 059/2022 of the UN HRC WGAD of October 2022 asking that these Professors be released by Nigeria because they were illegally abducted, arbitrarily detained and unconstitutionally deprived of their fundamental human rights in very unconscionable circumstances.
“We, the lawyers representing these professors and other abducted and arbitrarily detained refugees in Cameroon, firmly call for justice and ask the people of Nigeria, through their elected representatives, to support the prayers outlined in the petition before the House Committee on Public Petitions of the National Assembly of the Federal Republic of Nigeria,” it added.