A Fulani Youth Association of Nigeria, FUYAN, has asked President Bola Tinubu, to as a matter of urgency order the immediate release of the National President of Miyyeti Allah Kautel Hore, Bello Bodejo, detained by the Nigeria military.
Speaking to Newsmen in Kano, Tuesday, the Convener of the Fulani Youth Association, and Publicity Secretary of the Miyyeti Allah Kautel Hore, Muhammad Suleiman, said the continued detention of Bello Bodejo, violates the constitution.
He said, “The Nigerian Army had no constitutional power to detain any person beyond 24 hours without charging him or her to court.
Therefore, the detention of our Leader, Alhaji Abdullahi Bello Bodejo, is alien to the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria,” FUYAN, stated.
They revealed that the Miyetti Allah Leader was picked up at his office in Tudun Wada, Karu LGA of Nasarawa State and is being held at the facility of the Nigerian Army in the Asokoro area of the Federal Capital Territory.
“The Nigerian Army is not empowered by our laws to detain any citizen. The Police and the DSS are the only ones with the power to detain a citizen. Keeping Alhaji Bodejo for this long period is illegal.
“The Army should hand over our leader to the Police or the DSS and grant them records of whatever they are investigating. By this illegal act, the Army is going outside its constitutional duty.
Mr Suleiman, however, appealed to the members of the association and Bello’s kinsmen to remain calm and law-abiding as they await the release of their leader.
The Fulani youth leader said detention of Bello Bodejo by the Nigerian Army without trial, smacks of impunity of the highest order, warning that lawyers are warming up to the matter.
“If the Army has any evidence against Bello Bodejo, committing an offence known to the law, he should be arraigned before a competent court. Subjecting him to illegal detention is an infringement on his fundamental human rights as enshrined in the constitution.
“The Nigerian security apparatus, which is known for its professionalism, and respecter of the rule of law, should demonstrate such etiquettes known to it, by granting the President of the Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore, Abdullahi Bello Bodejo his constitutional rights as a law-abiding citizen of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and should be allowed to go home as his continuous detention is illegal and unconstitutional,” the statement reads further.
Bodejo was arrested recently in connection with the inauguration of the Nomad Vigilante Group in Lafia, the Nasarawa State’s capital on January 17 following public outcry.
The event held at the City Square, Lafia, had in attendance representatives of the country’s conventional security agencies who admonished the group to operate within the existing laws.
Bodejo said that the primary objective of the group is to help secure the livelihoods of farmers and herders, aid in information gathering and intelligence to the Nigerian security agencies of criminals and criminalities within the local communities as well as encourage peace in rural communities.
