Abdul Mahmud, a lawyer and political activist, has produced a chronicles of the travails of citizen Stephen Kefas, the Kaduna State indigene and citizen activist, who was picked up by the police on the orders of Kaduna Governor Nasir El Rufai and held in inhuman conditions.
Kefas is being held in a Kaduna prison and not granted bail even when the alleged crime – reporting on the insecurity going on in his home of Southern Kaduna – is bailable. He has been the subject of protests by human rights activists because of the treatment he is receiving from the Kaduna State government.
Mr. Mahmud has reported on the travails of Stephen Kefas on Twitter, via a thread and also republished below.
#KefasTravails. This is what is known: Stephen Kefas, a Southern Kaduna activist and patriot is currently being held in Kaduna Prison at the instigation of Governor El-Rufai. 》》 Thread 《《 #FreeKefas pic.twitter.com/7ZgBRYVZAL
— Great Oracle (Not by Affidavit) (@AbdulMahmud01) October 1, 2019
[dropcap]K[/dropcap]efas was abducted by officers @policeng who were set on his trail by Governor El-Rufai in Rumuogba, Port Harcourt on 8 May 2019.
During the abduction, they took his phone from him, effectively cutting him off from the world. They subsequently detained him overnight at Miniokoro Police Station, Port Harcourt.
Following morning, he was bundled, handcuffed and legchained, into a vehicle belonging to Kaduna State Transport Authority and driven by road to Kaduna.
During his ordeal, none of his relatives was aware of his whereabouts. At that time, he became a disappeared person.
On arriving Kaduna, he was detained at the Gabasawa Police Station, without a warrant save for the petition written by an aide of Governor El-Rufai. At this time, nobody knew his whereabouts.
On 10 May 2019, he was taken from Gabasawa Police Station to the Police State Command and paraded before the media. That despicable act blew the lid of his abduction: he was abducted by the police at the instigation of Governor El-Rufai.
Meanwhile, officers @policeng who seized his phone tortured him and extracted the password of his twitter account from him. His twitter account was deactivated by @policeng.
Between 10 and 13 May 2019, Kefas was detained at tge dreaded SARS detention cells in Kaduna. A patriot became an armed robber overnight. He was subsequently arraigned at a Kaduna Magistrate Court for criminal defamation of Governor El-Rufai.
He was granted bail. He perfected his bail conditions and was released. He returned to join his family in Port Harcourt. Governor El-Rufai wasn’t satisfied. Another round of conspiracy began.
Officers @policeng began to harass him Port Harcourt. They demanded he returned to Kaduna to answer to @policeng’s request for further investigation of a matter that was already the subject of a criminal charge. Kaduna State Government began threatening his surety.
Kefas’s surety is a civil servant. Kefas returned to Kaduna. The civil servant withdrew surety. Kefas was charged to another Magistrate Court on a holding charge- charge that gives police power to hold a citizen while claiming to investigate a matter.
He was ordered detained at Kaduna Prison on 21 May 2019. Case adjourned to 6 June 2019. What Governor El-Rufai intended had been achieved: detaining Kefas in prison custody. Police continued its fake investigation.
6 June 2019, he was brought before the Magistrate who refused to grant him bail or allow him to continue the bail earlier granted by a brother magistrate. He was taken back to prison. Case adjourned to 26 September 2019. 3 clear months of adjournment.
On 26 September when the matter came up, Mairo Mohammed didn’t sit. Kefas was returned to Prison. Matter further adjourned to 9 October 2019. She’ll not likely sit, considering that Governor El-Rufai teleguides the court.
How else can one explain the refusal of the court to grant bail on a bailable offence. Or explain how two courts of coordinate jurisdiction can be arranged to try a citizen on same spurious charges.
One thing explains it: power.
Abuse of power and the constitution. To contrive charges and begin to shop for favourable courts to do the bidding of power is bad; but to detain a citizen, threaten his surety, is evil.
Pure evil! Kefas is seriously ill in prison. Attempts to allows doctors to see him have been rebuffed by the prison authorities. If Kefas dies in prison, Nigerians know who hold responsible.
The Great Oracle’s aware that Governor El-Rufai and his minions will come for him. This is a notice: the Great Oracle fears no one and is ever ready to meet them in the court of law.
Meanwhile, Governor El-Rufai is a Muslim and the Great Oracle is the voice of the gods. If he says he has no hand in the travails of Kefas, I challenge him to place his hand on the Quran and swear. The Great Oracle has his hand on an iron, affirming the facts above!
Abdul Mahmud a prominent Nigerian lawyer and poet writes on his travails as national association of Nigerian students, NANS, President alongside his comrades.
The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author.
