Nigerian medical doctor Rose Agwu has called for help after soldiers invaded her home in Abia State and arrested her 15-year-old brother and sister.
Agwu, who resides near Obikabia Junction in the Aba area, reported that soldiers broke into her home around 5 am on Friday, taking away her siblings and sparing only her 72-year-old father.
She shared her ordeal in a series of posts on X on Friday morning. According to Agwu, her siblings were taken without any information on their whereabouts or the reason for their arrest.”
At about 5 am, the Nigerian Army invaded my house, broke the gate and our door, and took my 15-year-old brother and sister away, leaving only my aged father.
They have not been released, and we are still trying to locate them. Please help us ask the Nigerian Army the reason behind this and their plans for my siblings. This is how people go missing and get killed. Please release my siblings; they know nothing about the shooting or unknown gunmen,” Agwu wrote.
This incident occurred after five soldiers were killed at an Army checkpoint in the Aba area on Thursday. In response, the Nigerian military vowed that the killers would not go unpunished.As of 24 hours later, Agwu lamented that her siblings were still in custody, stressing that their rights were being abused.”
At exactly 5 am yesterday, while I was at the hospital running my Accident and Emergency shift, the Nigerian Army broke into my home, forced my 72-year-old father to sit in an unhealthy position, and took my 15-year-old brother and sister.
My family has been in panic and living in fear. The doors and gates were broken, no arrest warrant was shown, and no official statement was given.
This is not how justice is served! My siblings are experiencing something traumatic. How will they recover from this assault and abuse of their human rights? Today, June 1, is my sister’s birthday, and she’s in Army custody for a crime she knows nothing about.
My family has no relation to the crisis going on in the country. We are law-abiding citizens,” she wrote.Agwu called on the state governor, Alex Otti, to come to her family’s rescue.”
Today is my sister’s birthday, a very traumatic birthday indeed. She’s being held by the Nigerian Army, who, without intelligence information, arrested innocent law-abiding citizens living near where the attack on soldiers happened,” she stated.
Many residents near Obikabia Junction in the Aba area have also raised alarms online after soldiers allegedly raided their homes and detained young people.A user, #clevernation23, claimed that his friend was taken by soldiers who invaded his hotel room.”
They took my friend who came to Aba to buy goods on Monday but had to lodge in a hotel.
The military invaded the hotel and carried every occupant away,” he wrote.This move has sparked public outrage, with Nigerians condemning the invasion of homes and the arrest of innocent residents.
A user, #Samdgreat01, criticized the Army’s actions as lawlessness.”This is my problem with how the Nigerian Army works. Terrorists and criminals attacked your men, and you go around without intelligence detaining innocent citizens.
The real terrorists are still moving freely and can wreak havoc again. Families of innocent people will grieve while terrorists strike again.
Lawlessness,” he wrote.Another user, #Ikegod, called for a proper investigation to bring the real perpetrators to justice instead of unlawfully arresting innocent citizens.”I call on Alex Otti to interface with the Nigerian Army Chief, Lt. Gen.
Taoreed Lagbaja, to facilitate the immediate and unconditional release of all innocent and hapless Abia teenagers and youths abducted by rogue elements within the Nigerian Army on a reprisal attack.
The investigation to find and prosecute the attackers of the Army checkpoint in Obikabia Junction is a matter for the police.
The Nigerian Army must quit flexing muscles with unarmed Nigerian citizens and go after real terrorists wreaking havoc across Nigeria. Governor Alex Otti, please look into the abduction of hapless Abia teenagers,” he wrote.
