Sowore Condemns Unjust Detention of Couple Held by Nigerian Military Since 2021 Over Alleged Ties to IPOB

Omoyele Sowore, a prominent human rights activist and the convener of the Revolutionnow Movement, has publicly denounced the prolonged detention of an Igbo couple, Mr. and Mrs. Ifedi Sunday, by the Nigerian military since 2021 over alleged ties to the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).

The couple is accused of being members of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), a group advocating for the restoration of the Republic of Biafra.

 Disturbing accounts have surfaced, detailing the alarming abduction of hundreds of residents from Nigeria’s South-East region, allegedly at the hands of the nation’s security forces.

The victims, encompassing a wide range of individuals from elderly parents to young men and women, have seemingly vanished without a trace. Their families are left in a state of despair and uncertainty, devoid of any information regarding their loved ones’ current status, location, or even their survival.

Sowore expressed deep concern over the countless individuals, particularly those hailing from the South East, who have been unjustly detained and left to languish in military barracks.

He attributed this dire situation to Nigeria’s relentless pursuit of national unity, which has come at the expense of the basic human rights and freedoms of its own citizens.

Also, reports have surfaced detailing the involvement of Nigerian security agencies, Department of State Services (DSS), in enforced disappearances aimed at quelling the growing movement for Biafra restoration.

The region has been likened to a war zone, with frequent attacks on security checkpoints and formations by unidentified assailants, as well as allegations of the Nigerian Army setting fire to communities.

Human rights organizations like the Take It Back Movement, Amnesty International, have expressed grave concerns over reports of enforced disappearances and other human rights violations in the region.

Taking to his X account on Friday, Sowore highlights the continued human rights violations being carried out on a daily basis in the South-East region of Nigeria.

Adding pictorial evidence, he wrote: “This couple, Mr. Ifedi Sunday and Mrs. Ifedi Callista, have been held hostage by lawless @OfficialDSSNG on behalf of Nigeria’s insatiable need for NATIONAL UNITY since 2021 at Wawa Barracks in Niger State. 

“They were accused of being members of #IPOB; there are several other Nigerians, especially from the SE, abandoned in this @HQNigerianArmy Barrack are rotting away.”