DSS Arrested, Detained Me For Wearing 'We Are All Biafrans' T-shirt -Chido Onumah
Posted by FN Editor | 5 years ago | 1,207 times
Chidi Onumah, a Nigerian journalist and rights activist arrested and detained by the Department of State Services on Sunday evening, says he was arrested for wearing a T-shirt with the inscription: ‘We Are All Biafrans'.
Onumah, who was arrested by DSS operatives at the Nnamdi Azikwe Airport in Abuja, was detained for hours.
He was arrested upon arriving in the country from a trip abroad, at 5pm on Sunday and released about five hours later.
The DSS denied Onumah from seeing his lawyer or any member of his family.
Speaking late on Sunday after his release, Onumah said he was told that his arrest was because he wore a shirt with the inscription: ‘We Are All Biafrans'.
“I was arrested for wearing the T-shirt because the SSS said it is capable of causing disaffection in the country.
“They said some people had issues and had contacted them (SSS) whether I was a part of a group that was planning against the country,” he said.
'We Are All Biafrans', is the title of Onumah’s latest book, published in December 2018, where he wrote about Nigeria, focusing on the need to restructure Nigeria in order to be able to build a united country.
The author has no known links with any of the Biafran groups and has opposed the breakup of Nigeria, calling instead for a restructured
country where power is devolved to its constituent parts.
The DSS has yet to make an official statement on the arrest of the journalist and there are no indications it plans to file charges against him.
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