By; ALEX UANGBAOJE, Kaduna
The family of Bashir Hammadada, who was allegedly adopted by men of the 1 Mechanised Division of the Nigerian Army in Kaduna on Tuesday 30th January, has cried out and called on appropriate authorities to come to their aid and ensure justice is done to their brother.
Abdulkareem Ahmed, elder brother to Bashir who made the call on Thursday at a press briefing, said Tuesday’s adoption of his brother was the second time the army is adopting him, after failed attempts.
Abdulkareem, explained that Bashir who is asthmatic was “first adopted 8th December by some men dressed in army uniform in a Hilux vehicle and they dragged him to a place called Kakau, on hearing it I rushed to Sabo Police Station to report the incident.
“After serious efforts by the Police to help us without any result, six days later which is on 14th December, we got a call from 1 Div, telling us that Bashir is in their custody and that we should come and get him.
“When we got there to find out the allegation against him, they told us it was a case of mistaken identity, then we took him to the hospital, because he is diabetic and had not taken his medications since his adoption.
“Few day after his release, Bashir was holding a meeting with Kaduna South indigenes at Sheikh Dahiru Bauchi Mosque on the way forward for Kaduna South then we heard someone shouting that Bashir’s car was being vandalised outside.
“Again we reported the case at Tudun Wada Police Station and we had witnesses who were there to testify but nothing had been done about it as we speak.
“To our greatest surprise, in the early hours of Tuesday, while we were standing outside, three Hilux vehicles with about 20 men with army uniform surrounded us and they came out and told him they were there to take him away, when he requested them to identify themselves, they refused to show their identity cards but said they were military men.
“They dragged him into the vehicle and ask me to move away, when I asked where they were taking him to, they said 1Div without any further explanation.
“About 7:30 PM on Wednesday, 31st we got a call from the State Criminal Investigation Department (CID), that he had been transferred to State CID, but we are yet to know why he is being harassed like that.”
He said their only suspicion for now is the fact that Bashir has been a strong voice on the social media projecting and supporting Senator Shehu Sani.
He added, “The information we are getting now is that they want to frame him up by linking him to the death of a certain person. I must tell you, Bashir is a peaceful and peace loving person, he has no problem with his community and everyone knows him for who he is.
“We are calling on the authorities to release him unconstitutionally because he was abducted by the Army and quickly converted to an arrest so as to label him wrongly and form an allegation against him. We want justice for Bashir Hammadada.”
