Momoh Abubakar Otuhuo, a former community leader and proprietor of Jamaatul Muslimeen Academy in Eika, Okehi Local Government Area of Kogi State, is set to be arraigned by the Department of State Services (DSS) after being detained since 2022 without trial.
A source told SaharaReporters on Monday that the DSS had contacted Momoh’s lawyer earlier in the day regarding the court appearance. “They called his lawyers already,” the source said. Another source disclosed that Momoh would be arraigned at the Federal High Court, opposite the Ministry of Justice. Momoh has been in detention since 2022 without being charged in court. Momoh, a trained laboratory technician, was allegedly arrested due to a personal fallout with a former local government chairman.
He was arrested alongside three others — Idris Abdulmalik, a trainee nurse, and two Senior Secondary School students of his school, Masters Aliyu Yusuf and Ishaq Awwal. A family source who spoke with reporters said that despite efforts to secure his release, DSS officials at the Abuja headquarters forcefully ejected them when they came to demand justice. The source said some DSS officials privately admitted that Momoh is innocent but claimed the agency is reluctant to take the matter to court, fearing backlash for their failure to recognise their error in unjustly detaining him and others since 2022.
“We came from Kogi yesterday, and we were at the DSS headquarters protesting for the unconditional release of Momoh. DSS officials forcefully ejected us from the premises,” the source said. Another family member who spoke to reporters said that Momoh was arrested in early 2022 for allegedly insulting the then Okehi Council Chairman, Ohiare. The source added that Momoh’s wife, children, and extended family have been thrown into disarray, as he was the family’s breadwinner before his detention.
According to the family, members of the mosque committee in their community had contributed funds to enable them to travel to Abuja in pursuit of justice. However, they were chased away by members of the DSS, adding that Momoh’s elderly mother was physically pushed out of the DSS premises during the protest. However, they are demanding his unconditional release, accusing the DSS of lying to the public about its commitment to upholding human rights and compensating individuals who have been illegally detained.
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