Posted by By MARIAM ALESINLOYE AGBOOLA, Jos on
Wives of members of Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) held by the State Security Services (SSS) operatives in Jos, have appealed to the Federal Government to release them, crying that their continued incarceration was taking a toll on the families.
Wives of members of Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) held by the State Security Services (SSS) operatives in Jos, have appealed to the Federal Government to release them, crying that their continued incarceration was taking a toll on the families.
The men, numbering six, were reportedly arrested and detained by the SSS operatives after a search of their houses about two months ago.
Their arrests were believed to be part of the crack down on members of the group, since the arrest of their national leader, Chief Ralph Uwazuruike.
The women and relations are worried that they have not seen or heard from their husbands since they were whisked away by security agents.
One of them, Ogechukwu, wife of Peter Aniekweani, MASSOB's Northern Representative, lamented that they did not know if their husbands were still alive or not. 'Let someone tell President Olusegun Obasanjo to release them to us. We are tired of living like widows. If they are dead, we know one day we will be out of the mourning period.
But as the situation is now, we do not know how long we shall be mourning them. If they have done anything wrong, let them be charged to court and we can follow the trend in court. But keeping them with no charge against them and deprived of opportunity to see their families is too great a punishment on a man by a fellow human being."
Mrs Aniekweani told Daily Sun that her husband was picked up on a Friday and brought to his house which was thoroughly searched for two hours, before he was again taken away.
She said she recognised the security agents because they had been coming to arrest him in the past, after which he was released.
According to her, the security agents, had in the past, offered her husband money in exchange for quitting MASSOB activities.
'They once closed down our shop and threatened not to allow us operate our business here in Jos as long as he remains a MASSOB man," the mother of three further alleged, saying since her husband's arrest, the SSS state office had kept the family in the dark as to where he is kept.
'My children are equally worried about the whereabouts of their father. They keep asking for him… Managing without my husband has not been easy at all," she said.
Mrs Victoria Anaenye, on her part, said she returned from a wedding ceremony to find her apartment in disarray, caused by the search by the SSS agents. She later learnt that her husband, Damian, was arrested when he went to visit one of his colleagues detained at SSS office.
She immediately went there, but was disallowed from seeing him, she said.
The mother of two said she has since been calling at the office to no avail.
Victoria said her husband, indeed, had some problems with the SSS over his association with MASSOB when they were still in Kaduna but said he has done nothing amiss since they came to Jos.
She said during her recent visit, she overheard her husband in a cell when arguing with the security guard on duty. 'For now, we do not know if he is still with them in Jos, or he has been taken away from here. I don't even know if he is still alive or dead."
The provincial administrator of MASSOB, Mr Vincent Ojukwu told Daily Sun that the group has not heard about the men since their arrests.