Criticisms have continued to trail the abduction of The Sun Associate editor and Special Assistant, Media, to Dr. Uzor Orji Kalu, Mr. Ebere Wabara by policemen from Abia State Police Command, ostensibly on the orders of Abia State Governor, T. A Orji. Wabara had of late written commentaries critical of the misgovernance of the Abia State for which he drew the ire of aides of the governor.

Wabara was abducted from his Surulere, Lagos residence on Friday morning and was said to have been taken to Sholoki Police Station in Aguda, Surulere and later to Oyingbo Police Station, also in Lagos before he was whisked away. The invading police team was said to have told him that some unnamed persons had written a petition against him in Abia State. He was, therefore, requested to follow them to the state, where he would be charged with sedition.

Efforts by the Force Public Relations Officer, CSP Frank Mba to get Wabara’s statement taken in Lagos and thereafter make him report in Umuahia did not yield any fruit. Reacting to the development, human rights lawyer, Femi Falana, condemned the arrest, which according to him smacked of foul play.

He posited that whatever complaint anybody has against Wabara should have been lodged with Police in Lagos State so that he could make his statement in the state. “But to send police from Abia State to effect the arrest of an editor ought to be condemned, more so that the country is witnessing a spate of kidnapping.”

Falana said there is the need for the Nigerian Police and other security outfits to carry out their operations in a more civilized manner. “If the editor has committed any offence, he should be charged to court without further delay,” he said.

Also reacting to the development, lawyer and journalist, Richard Akinola said Wabara’s abduction by police from Abia State is despicable and should be totally condemned. He likened it to his own abduction by the military in 1996. “Wabara’s abduction reminds me of October 13, 1996, when I was similarly abducted by Abacha’s men. It is despicable that this is happening under a democratic government. There is no rationale for the abduction,” he said.

Speaking in similar vein, the acting president of Civil Liberties Organisation, CLO, Igho Akeregha said there is need for Nigerian politicians and public office holders to abide by the tenets of democratic rule which Nigeria practises. Akeregha who condemned the editor’s abduction in strong terms said that the manner of the abduction amounts to self-help.

Meanwhile, Wabara was seen at the Commissioner’s office, State Police Headquarters, Umuahia, Saturday, signing some documents before plain clothes policemen. He was still wearing the same night wears – a short, blue checked shirt and a pair of slippers – which he was wearing when he was taken away. He looked ruffled and unkempt, having not shaved since Friday morning when he was whisked away from his residence unprepared.

He said that they arrived the State CID, Umuahia by 12 mid-night in an Abia Line commercial bus, which carried them from Lagos.

According to him, since Friday morning when he was arrested, it was only around 2.00 pm yesterday that he was able to buy and eat some food.

His appearance looked like one whose experience was unpalatable as he spoke with hissings at intervals.

Narrating his experience briefly in a hushed voice, Wabara said that over 17 policemen, some from the local stations in Lagos stormed his house that morning to whisk him away like a common criminal.

“Over 17 policemen, some from the local stations in Lagos stormed my house in a Gestapo style when I came down stairs to pick something from my car. Since Friday, I just bought something and ate this afternoon.

I have never seen this type of thing before. If I had written any libelous thing, at least the court is there. This is like a dream which I want to quickly wake up from,” he said, shaking his head.

He said that before his arrest in Lagos, there was already an Abia Line bus waiting to take them to Umuahia and that they arrived at the State CID by mid-night.

Wabara, who managed to dictate his wife’s phone number to the reporter was worried about the welfare of the family in Lagos, as he was taken away from them without notice.

“Call my wife and tell her that I am alright, I told them to give me my phone so that I can communicate with my family, but they refused. I know that they will all be worried now,” he said.

When contacted on phone, his wife, Adanna, asked if truly her husband was the one that gave the reporter her number.

“Are you sure that you saw him, has he eaten, how is he, is he alright?”, she kept asking in quick succession without waiting for an answer.

It was after she was assured of the safety of her husband that she sounded a bit relaxed and said, “Thank you very much.”

Meanwhile, it is not known whether Wabara would be released on bail after signing the documents. A source from the State CID said that it was because of the personality involved in the matter that had made all of them to be in the office, stating that, “ordinarily, we would have waited till Monday,” he said. However, the State Commissioner of police had assured that there was no cause to worry.

A statement signed by Femi Adesina, Editor-in-Chief of The Sun, condemned the abduction, likening it to the dark, heady days of military dictatorship.

“The Sun Publishing Limited sees the abduction of Mr Wabara obviously on the orders of the Abia State Commissioner of Police, Mr Adamu Ibrahim, and perhaps under the further instruction of the state governor, Chief T. A. Orji, as a throwback to the dark days of military dictatorship, when might was right, and the strong trampled on the weak,” Mr. Adesina said in the statement.

“It is unconscionable, repressive and flies in the face of all that is decent and civil. It has all the trappings of autocracy, rather than democracy.

“If Mr Wabara infringed any law, we would have expected the police to invite him to answer questions, and then charge him to court. The approach that has been adopted is Gestapo-like, and unbecoming of those who instigated it.

“Those entrusted with the upholding of the law are not expected to trample on others. This is what the policemen from Abia State have done, and it runs contrary to the code of conduct for policemen as espoused by the Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Dikko Abubakar,” Mr. Adesina added.

The Sun said that when it contacted the Force Public Relations Officer, Frank Mba, a Chief Superintendent of Police, he made efforts to resolve the matter, urging that Mr Wabara’s statement be taken in Lagos, and that he be given the opportunity to thereafter report in Umuahia.

“But apparently, the invaders from Abia had another design, obviously to keep him in detention over the weekend. It is simply despicable,” Mr. Adesina added.