Izeze: Human Rights Advocates Demand End To Prolonged Detention

Human rights advocates and public interest lawyers have called on the Delta State Police Command to end what they described as the prolonged detention of the Delta State Commissioner for Works, Mr. Rume Yakubu Izeze.

The demand was contained in a letter dated August 8, 2026, and signed by Omes Ogedegbe, Esq., Public Interest and Human Rights Lawyer and Director General, Confab for Human Rights, addressed to the Commissioner of Police, Delta State Command, Asaba, and copied to the Area Commander, Uvwie Area Command, Effurun.

The lawyers said they were acting in the public interest and in defence of the constitutional right to personal liberty, stressing that they were not acting as solicitors to Izeze.

Izeze’s continued detention follows the reported attack on Hon. Temple Mudi, which occurred in connection with events surrounding an All Progressives Congress (APC) stakeholders’ meeting at the Petroleum Training Institute, Effurun.

According to the advocates, Izeze was initially arrested and subsequently granted bail but was later returned to custody over an allegation that he breached or jumped bail.

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They, however, maintained that Izeze had appeared by himself at the police station, arguing that an allegation of bail violation should not be used as a basis for indefinite detention without due process.

The lawyers stressed that they were not seeking to interfere with any lawful investigation or suggesting that Izeze was above the law.

They said that where there is credible evidence that he committed an offence, the appropriate course of action is to charge him before a competent court and allow the court to determine his guilt or otherwise.

Citing Section 35 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, the advocates said the right to personal liberty was constitutionally guaranteed, adding that police investigation should not become a justification for keeping a person in custody indefinitely.

They consequently called on the Delta State Police Command to disclose the legal basis for Izeze’s continued detention and either charge him to court without further delay if there is sufficient evidence against him or release him if there is no lawful basis for his continued detention.

The group maintained that while no person is above the law, no person is beneath the law, stressing that the police have a duty to investigate and prosecute where appropriate but should not punish anyone through prolonged detention without due process.

The advocates urged the Delta State Police Command to allow the law to take its course by investigating the matter, charging Izeze where there is evidence, or releasing him where there is none.