Australian negotiator, Dr. Stephen Davis, has raised the alarm over the arrest of innocent volunteers from the Shehuri Community in Borno State, who have been assisting in catering for widows, orphans and other internally-displaced persons by the Department of State Security Service, DSS.
According to Davis who raised the alarm yesterday, the men Shehuri community had been arrested based on wrong information given to the DSS by one Aye Dee.
In a statement released to Vanguard, Davis said: “In Maiduguri there are small groups of young men and women who go out into the community each week to provide food to the widows whose husbands have been killed by Boko Haram. Others repair the humble shelters used by widows and orphans to shelter from the rain.
“One such group of community servants is the Shehuri North Community Development and Youth Empowerment Association in Maiduguri. It is a registered association with very admirable goals.
“I heard of this group while seeking the handover of Chibok captives in Borno State a few months ago. I met with the group in Maiduguri to learn more of their community work. I was convinced of the outstanding humanitarian work of this group with such meagre funding from their own private resources.
He said he has sent a message to the Director General of the DSS, Mr. Ita Ekpenyong but he was yet to get a reply.
Davis said that he had also made his objection to the arrests of members of the Shehuri Community Development and Youth Empowerment Association in Maiduguri, although he had not received any reply yet.
“If the DG-SSS would care to check with the office of General (ret.) Danjuma and Ambassador Gana I am sure he will find these facts as I have set them out to be supported and thus enable the immediate release of the members of the Shehuri North Community Development and Youth Empowerment Association,” he said.
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