The Umuaba Community in Imufu, Enugu-Ezike, Igbo-Eze North Local Council of Enugu State, has urged President Bola Tinubu and the National Assembly to intercede on its behalf to secure the release one of its kinsmen who has been in solitary confinement in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for six years without trial.
According to Augustine Abugu, spokesperson for the community and a brother to the detainee, Jerome Abugu, 34, was arrested on Sunday, March 18, 2018, in UAE, in the company of another Nigerian, and taken to different prisons and has neither been seen by any lawyer or relative since then.
Augustine, who spoke with journalists on the matter, yesterday, narrated how Jerome was arrested and detained.
He said: “Our brother, Jerome, was arrested at Sharjah Gate Tower, Ahnada, on Sunday, March 18, 2018, and taken to a nearby police station, from where he was transferred to the Sharjah Central Prison/Jail in Abu Dhabi. Jerome was 28 years at the time of his arrest and detention.
“Since then, we have made several attempts to see him in prison without success, just as lawyers have not been able to see or talk to him.”
On the circumstances surrounding his arrest, Augustine explained: “Jerome was staying in a house at Sharjah Gate Tower as a new person, when he was invited by his friend to escort him to a place at Ahnada Park, Sharjah, where both of them were arrested. According to the reports we heard, his friend allegedly had some illicit substances at the time of the arrest but confessed to the security agents who arrested them that Jerome was not aware that he was carrying such substances, as he was innocent.
“Later, Jerome led the security agents to the apartment where he was staying and the security men searched the place but did not recover anything. They, however, took him away and later transferred both of them to different prisons. That was the last time we heard about him or saw him.”
He pleaded with the Federal Government to intervene and secure his release or even get the UAE authorities to try him for any offence he may have committed.
He added: “Our father, Jacob Abugu, died lamenting the detention of Jerome without trial. We are also appealing to the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NiDCOM), led by Abike Dabiri-Erewa, to intervene on our behalf to get this problem sorted out for Jerome to be released or tried.”
