The Cross River State Police Command has failed to arraign the environmental activist, Odey Oyama, in court.
Odey, the Director of Rainforest Resource and Development Centre (RRDC), was to appear in Magistrate Court 1 Moore Road in Calabar on Monday, January 20, 2025, by 12 noon but, up until 4pm, there was no information of whether the court was still going to sit.
On Tuesday, January 14, 2025, the environmental activist and six others were arrested by Police officers from the Ikom division of the Cross River State Police Command.
He had been in Police custody before being speedily charged to court, he was arraigned on January 16, 2025, but his bail was denied. It was gathered that he is being charged for promoting communal strife.
When contacted on phone on why the accused was not presented in court by the Police, the Police Public Relations Officer, SP Irene Ugbo, simply said, “it could be that the papers were not ready, I am going to check.”
It will be recalled that, in recent times, Oyama has been engaged in a fierce campaign against Chinese business concerns working with indigenous collaborators who are logging the Effi Rainforest, a trend that has resulted in massive deforestation, dissipation of wildlife and loss of biodiversity.
Some civil society organisations (CSOs) have however called for the immediate release of Oyama, saying his arrest and detention by the Nigerian Police signifies a rising trend of abuse and repression.
The Executive Director of PADIC, formally known as Development Concerns (DEVCON), Dr. Martins Egot, and Director of PeacePoint Development Foundation (PPDF), Mr. Umo Isuaiko, described his arrest and detention as deliberate to keep him incommunicado.
In a statement by the Executive Director of Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF), Comrade NnimmoBassey, Egot of DEVCON, Isuaiko of PPDF, Executive Director of We the People (WTP), Mr. Ken Henshaw, and 28 others said it was against the law for Odey to be detained beyond 24 hours without trial and “the action of the Nigeria Police has once again demonstrated flagrant disregard for due process and their role in stifling dissenting voices, especially when vested business interests are at stake”.
They said: “This instance, Odey Oyama a conscientious objector to the destruction of the environment, rather than enjoy the protection of the government, is being systematically persecuted.”
