When FIJ called Nwachukwu Onyeama, the Nigerian Army’s spokesperson, for a reaction on Sunday afternoon, there was no response. A text message sent to him has also not got a response.
By Opeyemi Lawal
On August 2, 2021, Victor Iroha, a photographer and videographer, kissed his wife and his two-year-old and four-month-old sons goodbye. He was leaving their home in Lagos for Asaba, Delta State, for a job. However, two months after his departure, he was arrested by the Nigerian Army and is yet to be released.
A relative of Iroha who spoke anonymously with FIJ said that in October, two months after he travelled, there was a call from a stranger, who revealed he had been arrested and was now in Ohafia Barracks in Abia State
This relative stated that the following year, 2022, there was another unexpected call saying he had been transferred to the 82nd Division Army Barracks in Enugu.
“Victor left Lagos for Asaba on August 2 for a photography and cinematography gig. Shortly after he arrived there, communication ended, and we stopped hearing from him,” the relative told FIJ.
“In October, a stranger called to inform us that Iroha was being detained at Ohafia Barracks in Abia State, and that was all he said. He didn’t say anything about the cause of his arrest or detention, and that was the last we heard from him.
“The following year, in June, there was a second call from another stranger, who said he had been transferred to 82nd Division Army Barracks in Enugu. This was also all we knew.”
The relative further told FIJ that a third call came from another stranger in 2023, who had shared a cell with Iroha at the Department of State Services (DSS) Headquarters in Abuja.
“This cellmate said he had seen Iroha and that they were both detained by the DSS in Abuja,” the relative said.
“When we asked him what he was detained for, he didn’t say explicitly. He only said he is innocent and that we should look for money to secure his release, as he heard they were going to transfer him alongside others to Wawa Military Detention or somewhere in Kaduna State.
“We have not heard anything from him since then, and we do not know where to look for him. It’s been traumatising for us, as life has been tough without him.”
FIJ recently published a series of interviews with Pius Awoke, a legal practitioner, and Chinonso Onyibe, an undergraduate at Ebonyi State University, who were arrested in July 2021 by the DSS. The two men spent nearly three years in Wawa Military Cantonment without trial or charge. They were released on June 21.
When FIJ called Nwachukwu Onyeama, the Nigerian Army’s spokesperson, for a reaction on Sunday afternoon, there was no response. A text message sent to him has also not got a response.