Posted by By Wahab Abdulahi on
MRS. Mujaheedat Dokubo-Asari, wife of Alhaji Mujahid Dokubo-Asari admits that she has gone through a lot of troubles since her husband was arrested, detained and finally charged to court.
MRS. Mujaheedat Dokubo-Asari, wife of Alhaji Mujahid Dokubo-Asari admits that she has gone through a lot of troubles since her husband was arrested, detained and finally charged to court. However, she says that these deprivations notwithstanding, she would support the embattled militia leader in his struggle to liberate his people. More importantly, Mrs. Dokubo warns that no harm should befall her husband, or else...
Did you not entertain fears when your husband left for Abuja when he was invited him before and from where he was eventually detained and taken to court?
There was nothing much to the invitation. He was invited in a usual manner. You see, whenever they invited him before now, he always honoured it. This was one of those invitations, but at the end of the day, he was arrested and detained.
How did the invitation come to him?
The verbal invitation was through the Rivers State Commissioner of Police, who conveyed the message to the SSS who was attached to monitor my husband since after the 2004 crisis in Rivers State. Actually, the invitation was verbal, there was no letter. When he saw the Commissioner of Police, he (Asari) told him that he would be going to Abuja, that the SSS had invited him. He planned to leave the second day but the Commissioner of Police said no, that the Inspector-General of Police would like to see him that day.
The CP (Commissioner of Police) accompanied him to Abuja.
Any reasons adduced for the invitation?
No, he was just invited for a normal chat, which had been regular from time to time, to discuss the security issues in the region with him.
How has it been with the family since your husband's arrest, detention and eventual arraignment on charges of treasonable felony?
It has not been easy at all. You can see me now. You know the tail cannot function without the head. Since my husband is not there for us, everything is scattered, things are damn rough. We've been devastated. On daily basis, the children have been crying, requesting to see their dad.
To be frank with you, we are suffering. I cannot pay my children's school fees because my husband is incarcerated. It is a big blow to us.
What efforts beside the court struggles have you and other members of his family made to get him released?
I always tell the government to release my husband because I know he is innocent of all the charges. I have spoken to the international Community through the foreign media to help me appeal to the government to release my husband.
The only crime they can levy against him recently is his participation in PRONACO activities. I know that my husband has totally been disarmed. Everybody knew about this. Now, he does not have a knife in his house let alone a gun.
So, I was surprised when he was arrested and later charged for treason. I know that the constitution of Nigeria guarantees every citizen freedom of speech. This is a democratic government, where the citizens should have freedom of speech and freedom of movement. What they have actually done is an infringement on his freedom of speech and freedom of movement. An aggrieved person can say anything, at least, to free his mind.
You are aware of what happened sometimes when the government sent military men to one part of the Niger-Delta and the entire area was sacked. The government promised to rehabilitate the affected places. As I speak to you now, nothing has been done. As a result of this, Alhaji Dokubo said that if this is the kind of country we live in, there is no hope and he cannot be part of it. Before you make somebody to be part of a structure you have to get the consent of that person. Nobody sought our consent before we were forced under this union, called Nigeria. They only used the barrel of gun to colonise us and bring us together, because they want to take our God-given wealth, our oil and make money out of it for their own benefit.
But if a man says he doesn't want to be part of that union through democratic way, how can you say such a person has committed treasonable felony when he has not lifted even a knife to say he's fighting the state? Though I am not a lawyer, but for you to sustain such charges against such a man, his words ought to be backed up with actions. This time, what he (Asari) said was never backed up with any action. They should consider that he has a family.
Following his arrest, has the family not been left to fend for itself which means that it's not a fight against the entire family?
He was arrested on Thursday, September 20,2005 and on Friday, September 21, I went to Abuja to see him. There, I was taken to the one guest house where he was kept at about 7.30 a.m. But while I was in Abuja, the security operatives were already in our house at Port Harcourt, ransacking the whole place. I was told they were about 100 men. They came in a combined team. They searched the entire house and turned everywhere upside down. They entered my husband's bedroom and searched his wardrobe and entered the boys' quarters, all in the search for guns, as they claimed. But they did not see any gun. So, I was shocked when the PPRO (Police Public Relations Officer) said they found AK rifle in our house. This was defended by my husband's lawyer, Mr. Festus Keyamo who swore to an affidavit in court. What shocked me was that some journalists reported that without cross-checking with us. They don't answer to us but they would have, at least, cross-checked their facts.
Where have you been since Dokunbo's arrest and since the last search?
I stay in his house at Port-Harcourt, with my children. No, there has not been any further search since the last one.
Are you a member of the Niger Delta Volunteer Force?
No, I am not a member, but I believe in their struggles.
As a woman and wife of the leader of NDVF, how have you been coping with your husband's involvement in the entire struggle?
It is not easy, but I know that God has not made a mistake for making me the first wife of Alhaji Dokubo Asari. So, that same God has given me the courage to handle every travail and problem I am going to face. He (God) knew what would be ahead of us before we were born. It is not easy though but there is nothing one can do. I have developed thick skin.
At your sober moments, don't you, in all sincerity, regret marrying Asari, with all these problems you've been facing?
Never! Like I have told you before, I have developed thick skin. I did not know these would be the problems I would face before I married Alhaji Asai, but God knows better. He has given me a large heart to accommodate all these. Frankly speaking, there are no regrets. Don't forget that his sister was also arrested. It's all part of the persecution, but she, alongside others, have been released after they were charged to court along with 13 others.
What do you think sustains your husband to keep on the struggle?
Because he is a man of truth, he believes in truth, justice, equity and fair play. That is why the Gods of the land are always behind him. That's why his people are behind him, that's why men of truth share in his vision. It's not been easy but we rely on God to see us through at the end of the day.