A coalition of civil society organizations has accused a lawyer and the spokesman for the President Muhammadu Buhari Campaign Organisation, Festus Keyamo, of having a hand in the incarceration of an Abuja activist, Deji Adeyanju.
Adeyanju has been kept in Kano prison for the past 50 days following his arrest by the police for attempted homicide, a charge for which he was discharged and acquitted by a Kano High Court in 2009.
Addressing journalists in Abuja on Saturday, Atoye Ariyo-Dare of Coalition in Defence of Nigerian Democracy and Constitution; Raphael Adebayo (Co-Convener, Free Nigeria Movement) and Moses Paul (MadConnect), said Adeyanju was detained over his criticism of the Buhari Administration for which Keyamo now worked.
Ariyo-Dare said Keyamo represented Adeyanju during his trial in 2009, adding that several letters and entreaties made to him to intervene in the detention of his former client did not elicit any response.
He stated, “Mr. Keyamo’s stoic silence in the matter at the expense of the continued violation of the rights of a person he once represented, therefore, fuels concerns in the thoughts of many Nigerians that he may have played a key role in the design and execution of the plot to keep Mr. Adeyanju out of circulation in order to protect the interests of President Buhari and his campaign.
“More so that we had previously written a letter to Keyamo pleading for his intervention in the matter. It is nearly impossible to resist the conclusion that Mr. Keyamo may have chosen to sacrifice his professional ethics on the altar of regime protection and at the expense of justice.”
The group vowed to continue pressing for Adeyanju’s release, noting that he was being detained for speaking the truth, insisting that his incarceration was illegal and against the law of natural justice.
Adebayo accused the Buhari government of corroding the civil space, adding that Keyamo, as a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, should have been at the forefront of demands for Adeyanju’s release knowing the facts of his acquittal in the matter.
“It is instructive to note that Mr. Keyamo now works for the Buhari presidency which by all indications wants Mr Adeyanju out of circulation before, during and immediately after the 2019 general election for obvious reasons,” he added.
Keyamo could not be reached for comment as calls to his phone indicated that it was either switched off or out of network coverage. He had yet to respond to a text message as of the time of filing this report.
Punch