Eleojo Opaluwa, an official of the National Union of Electricity Employees, NUEE, and Vice Chairman of the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, in Kogi State, has allegedly been abducted by operatives of the Nigeria Police.
According to reports, Opaluwa was taken into custody by the Police Intelligence Response Team in Mararaba, Nasarawa State, on August 4, 2024, and has been held incommunicado since then.
Sources indicate that on the afternoon of August 4, Opaluwa received a phone call and abruptly left his family in Mararaba to meet the caller at a designated location within the same area.
Eyewitnesses later informed his family that he was forcibly taken away by security personnel in a convoy of vehicles, including a Hilux and a Golf.
Later that day, around 5 p.m., security personnel driving a Toyota SUV visited the NUEE office at Area 8, Garki, to inquire about an employee named Eleojo or Opaluwa.
The office watchman confirmed that Opaluwa worked there but noted that he was not in the office since it was the weekend.
Unaware that Opaluwa had been detained by security operatives, his family launched a frantic search for him.
They reported his disappearance to the Mararaba Police Station, where they were advised to return the next day, August 5, if he did not come home. The family complied, providing Opaluwa’s photo and other necessary details to help declare him missing. However, despite their efforts, the police have yet to officially declare him missing.
NUEE has since confirmed Opaluwa’s arrest. In a statement, the union’s Acting General Secretary, Dominic Igwebike, stated, “We were reliably informed that around 2 p.m. on August 4, 2024, Opaluwa, a staff member of NUEE, left his house in Mararaba, Nasarawa State, and has not returned home since then.”
“It was confirmed that he was whisked away by security personnel in their vehicles (one Hilux and a golf) to an unknown destination.
“We have tried everything possible to reach him on the phone but all to no avail. We visited some police stations at Mararaba and environs, but they denied having him in their custody.
“We contacted our lawyer to write to the National Security Adviser to the President, intimating him of the predicament of Opaluwa, where he is denied access to his lawyer, family and freedom of movement amongst other rights.
“Furthermore, we are also reliably informed that Opaluwa was arrested and detained by security personnel at the IRT.
“We hereby demand without further delay the immediate release of Opaluwa, who has been illegally detained since August 4, 2024, till date. This is a flagrant abuse of his rights as a citizen of Nigeria.”
(allnews.ng)
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