Detained separatist group leader Asari Dokubo told a Nigerian court on Monday that he was kept for two months in an underground cell without ventilation by the secret police SSS.
Dokubo is facing a treason charge of plotting to overthrow the government by unconstitutional means.
Arrested in September 2005 Dokubo Asari is the leader of Niger Delta People Voluntary Force (NDPVF) who claim to fight for the Ijaw community, the biggest ethnic group in the oil rich Niger Delta region, in southern Nigeria.
“I have been held for two months, no sun, no air. By the grace of God, I will survive all the evils of (President) Obasanjo,” Dokuboh said in an outburst during a court session.
“Maybe I should have allowed the Ijaw people to come and free me… They (the SSS police) said they were taking me to the (presidential) villa. From the villa to an underground cell. No doctor, no lawyer, nobody,” Dokubo said.
Dokubo’s lawyer, Festus Keyamo, had earlier complained “that the accused person was removed from a legitimate custody to an unknown place” last February.
“Between the last adjournment and today, many bizarre things have happened. The accused person has been abducted from place to place. The last time we heard something about Asari was in August when he was taking into complete oblivion and kept incommunicado,” Keyamo said.
“He has been kept underground by the SSS. They brought him from there this morning, quickly handed him over to the police to give the impression that it was the police which brought him to court,” Keyamo said.
The prosecutor, Saliu Aliyu denied the claims by the defence. “He was brought to court by the police and taking away by the police,” Aliyu said.
The original intention of the court was to listen to the defence counsel on the position of the appeal for a stay of proceedings pending the determination of an appeal lodged at a higher court.
The case was adjourned till next Wednesday. – Sapa-AFP