Imoleayo is facing prison for taking part in the #EndSARs movement in Nigeria. Take action now and demand the charges against him be dropped.
Imoleayo was taken from his home in the middle of the night. 20 armed men raided his home in Abuja, Nigeria while his family were locked in a room. He was taken by the authorities two weeks after attending an #EndSARs protest in October 2020 which saw young people across Nigeria marching against violence, extortion and killings by the Special Anti-Robbery Squad, popularly known as SARS. Imoleayo, a young computer programmer, promoted the protests online using the viral hashtag #EndSARS.
Officers shattered his bedroom window and pointed a gun at him, forcing him to open his front door. They then seized his phone and computer, and locked his wife, elderly mother and seven-month-old son in a room and disconnected the power supply to the streetlights around his house.
After they took him away from his family, the Nigerian authorities brought Imoleayo to state security service headquarters where they held him in an underground cell for 41 days without access to a lawyer or his family. While there, he was cuffed, blindfolded and chained to a steel cabinet. He was also forced to sleep on a bare floor. All he had to eat was some porridge mixed with stones. Security officers interrogated him a total of five times.
Imoleayo suffered pneumonia and was eventually released on bail in December 2020. He is now facing trumped-up charges of ‘conspiracy with others to disturb public peace’ and ‘disturbing public peace’. Imoleayo is one of many people at risk of punishment for speaking out in Nigeria. The trumped-up charges against him must be dropped immediately.
Take action now and demand that all charges against Imoleayo are dropped immediately.
Free Imoleayo Michael
इमोलेआयो माइकल, नाइजेरिया
सन् २०२० अक्टोबरमा युवाहरू नाइजेरियाको राजधानी अबुजामा भेला भएको बेला इमोलेआयो माइकल पनि त्यसमा सामेल भए । नाइजेरियामा सार्सको नामले परिचित लुटपाट र डकैतीविरुद्ध लड्नका लागि बनाइएको स्पेशल एन्टी रबरी स्क्वाड (Special Anti-Robbery Squad) द्वारा भएका हिंसा, जबर्जस्ती असुली र हत्याविरूद्ध उनीहरू प्रदर्शन गर्दै थिए । युवा कम्प्युटर प्रोग्रामर इमोलेआयोले उक्त विरोध प्रदर्शनलाई भाइरल ह्यासट्याग #EndSARS को प्रयोग गरी ट्वीटर र फेसबुकमार्फत प्रचारप्रसार गरे । दुई सातापछि नोभेम्बर १३ को बिहानतिर २० जना हतियारधारी व्यक्तिहरूले इमोलेआयोको घरमा छापा मारे । उनीहरूले उनको सुत्ने कोठाको झ्याल फुटाए र उनीतर्फ बन्दुक तेर्साउँदै उनलाई अगाडिको ढोका खोल्न बाध्य बनाए । भित्र पसेपछि उनीहरूले उनको मोबाइल फोन र कम्प्यूटर खोसे । त्यसपछि उनको श्रीमती, वृद्ध आमा र सात महिनाको छोरालाई एउटा कोठामा बन्द गरे र उनको घर वरपरको सडक बत्तीहरूको बिजुली आपूर्ति काटिदिए । उनलाई राज्यको सुरक्षा निकायको मुख्यालयमा लगे र वकिल र आफ्नो परिवारसँग भेटघाट गर्न नदिई उनलाई ४१ दिनसम्म जमिन मुनिको कोठामा थुनेर राखे । त्यहाँ रहँदा उनलाई हतकडी लगाइयो, आँखामा पट्टि बाँधियो र स्टीलको दराजमा साङ्ग्लोले बाँधेर राखियो । उनलाई खाली भुइँमा सुत्न पनि बाध्य पारियो । उनलाई खानाको रूपमा स–साना ढुङ्गा मिसाइएको जाउलो मात्र खान दिइयो । सुरक्षा अधिकारीहरूले उनीसँग जम्मा पाँच पटक केरकार गरे । इमोलेआयोलाई निमोनिया भएपछि अन्ततः डिसेम्बर २०२० मा धरौटीमा रिहा गरियो । उनले ‘सार्वजनिक शान्ति खलबल्याउन अरुसँग षडयन्त्र’ गरेको र ‘सार्वजनिक शान्ति खलबल्याएको’ झुटो आरोप खेप्दै आएका छन् ।
इमोलेआयो विरूद्ध लगाइएका सबै आरोपहरू फिर्ता लिन नाइजेरियाका अधिकारीलाई अनुरोध गरौँ ।