(MRA/IFEX) – On 4 August 2005, Nigeria’s intelligence agency, the State Security Service (SSS), released from custody two printers, Steve Omali and Michael Damisa.The printers had been arrested on 1 August at the Nnamdi Azikiwe Airport in Abuja after being found in possession of advocacy campaign materials printed for the Coalition Against Impunity. They were […]
(MRA/IFEX) – On 4 August 2005, Nigeria’s intelligence agency, the State Security Service (SSS), released from custody two printers, Steve Omali and Michael Damisa.The printers had been arrested on 1 August at the Nnamdi Azikiwe Airport in Abuja after being found in possession of advocacy campaign materials printed for the Coalition Against Impunity. They were released on bail along with Damisa’s brother, Matthew Damisa, who was also arrested on 1 August when he went to visit his brother at the SSS Headquarters in Abuja.
Omali and Damisa were found with copies of a “Charles Taylor Wanted” poster which they had reprinted at the request of the Coalition. The group is campaigning for former Liberian President Charles Taylor to be extradited to Sierra Leone to stand trial for war crimes for which he has been indicted by a special court. He was granted political asylum by the Nigerian government in August 2003. The poster was a reproduction of the “Interpol Red Notice” for Taylor issued in 2003.
The SSS did not release the 10,000 copies of the poster which its agents had confiscated when they arrested the two printers.
The SSS, however, is continuing its hunt for Chidi Anselm Odinkalu, the senior legal officer for Africa at the Open Society Justice Initiative (OSJI) office in Abuja. Odinkalu is one of the leaders of the Coalition. Two security agents visited the OSJI office on 2 August in search of Odinkalu, saying they had instructions from SSS Director General Colonel Kayode Are to bring him to SSS headquarters for questioning for allegedly sponsoring the printing of the posters. The security agents subsequently paid repeated visits to the office but have not found him. They have reportedly kept the OSJI premises under surveillance in their search for him.
