Jailed Sisiku AyukTabe and Co Seek Tinubu Government’s Intervention for Repatriation to Nigeria

Sisiku AyukTabe and ten other members of the Ambazonian interim government are seeking the intervention of President Bola Tinubu’s government to use diplomatic channels to request their return to Nigeria.

Sisiku and Co. were arrested in Nigeria on January 5, 2018, and subsequently repatriated to Cameroon.

After ex-President Mohammad Buhari’s denial to comply with the Supreme Court’s order to inform the Cameroonian government of the illegal repatriation of university professors and refugees, their legal team has submitted a request to the Nigerian House of Representatives to discuss the matter.

The petitioners believe that the Nigerian Parliament can intervene and secure their release so they can be free to engage in dialogue with the Cameroonian government or pursue their desires, as negotiating with someone who is imprisoned is not feasible, stated a legal representative.

The Public Petitions Committee of the House has received the petition from Frulaw Chambers.

“What we are asking of Parliament is to realise that these individuals were not detained under the administration of Bola Tinubu, a human rights advocate. He was a former exile and refugee in another country fleeing tyranny. He fought and defeated tyranny… Now there is renewed hope, so we want that renewed hope to engage our neighbours and touch the lives of our neighbours, especially my clients. We wish for him to intervene with the Cameroonian authorities to release them,” stated one of the legal representatives to the press.

In their petition, the separatist leaders and asylum seekers in Nigeria pleaded with House, among others; pressure the government of Nigeria to institute urgent action to secure the implementation of Communication 59/2022 of October 14, 2022, of the UN-HRC-WGAD calling for their release.

“Cause the Government of Nigeria to take action and implement the rulings in the three judgements of the Federal High Court of Abuja in 2019, ordering the release and compensation of these Petitioners,” the release stated.

They also called “on the Nigerian government to leverage on the Abuja 2002 Ruling in Suit No. FHC/ABJ/CS/30/2002 between The Southern Cameroons Rep. Kelvin Ngwang Ngumne et al Vs the Attorney General of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, and intervenes to resolve the conflict between Southern Cameroons and La Republique du Cameroun.”

“Cause the Nigerian government to take action and urgently initiate proceedings before the ICJ and other international jurisdictions, citing la République du Cameroun to be Sanctioned for fraudulent misrepresentation during the Bakassi Peninsula case in the ICJ.”

They went on to state, “The Government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria should take its rightful place as a “Big brother” and intervene as a mediator between the Southern Cameroons and La Republique du Cameroun to resolve the ongoing conflict and restore peace and stability in the Gulf of Guinea region.”

The petition

Addressing journalists on the petition, a lawyer at FRULAW CHAMBERS and a former Member of the House of Representatives, Hon. Abdul Shaibu Oroh, reiterated the call on President Tinubu-led Federal Government to employ diplomatic and political measures to ensure the release of detainees.

According to him, “What we are asking the parliament to do, is realise that these people were not detained under the administration of Bola Tinubu. Bola Tinubu is a human rights person. He was a former exile, a former refugee in another country, who was running away from tyranny. He fought tyranny and defeated tyranny.

“Now there is hope renewed so we want that hope to be renewed to engage our neighbours, to touch the lives of our neighbours, especially these clients. We want him to intervene with the Cameronian authorities to release them. Even the UN Special Commission on Arbitrary Arrests made this appeal to the Buhari administration but you people know that the Buhari administration didn’t respect human rights, they didn’t listen to anybody.

“So we are appealing to him, we are appealing to our parliament, elected by our people, by sovereign will of the Nigerian people, to intervene with the Cameroonian authorities to release these people. Maybe they can go into a conversation to negotiate peace because these people are interested in peace. So that their refugees can return home and their people can have peace.

“You know, you can not negotiate with somebody who is not free. These people, one of them former deputy registrar of ABU, was 65 years old and according to the law of Cameroon, you can not sentence a man who is 65 years old to life imprisonment. So, what did they do? They fined him the equivalent of $533 million. Even the Cameroonian state can not afford that kind of money, not to mention an individual, an old man who is simply saying, Let me be myself.

“So we want the Federal Government of Nigeria to intervene diplomatically and by other means to first of all secure the release of these people, their liberty, and if they’re free, it is now up to them to meet their people in one way or another, either to negotiate with the Cameronian state or whatever. That is going to be a political decision they will have to take on their own. We are interested in their liberty, and freedom. That is the core of the petition we have submitted to the House Committee on Public Petitions.”

In 2019, the Abuja Federal High Court ruled that the arrest and detention of the Ambazonia leader, Sisiku Ayuk Tabe, and 11 others by Nigeria’s National Security Adviser, Major-General Babagana Monguno, were illegal.

Justice Anwuli Chikere ordered Nigerian authorities to pay 5 million naira as damages to each of them as compensation.

The judge agreed with Femi Falana, who is a lawyer for Sisiku and others, that they were banned from Nigeria under conditions that did not comply with the law under the National Refugee Commission Act, Section 35 of the Nigeria Constitution, and Article 12 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, which do not allow Nigeria to expel or deport refugees and asylum seekers.

Sisiku Julius Ayuk Tabe and nine others were arrested in an Abuja hotel where they allegedly convened for a meeting following the crisis in the Anglophone regions of Cameroon, declaring independence.

The Parliament has adjourned the matter until May 14, 2024.

© Mimi Mefo Info