Tonye Okio: President Jonathan’s Critic Has Been Arrested

Sir Tonye Okio, a noted critic of President
Goodluck Jonathan and Governor Henry
Dickson of Bayelsa State, has been arrested.
According to publicly available information,
Mr. Okio was arrested on Saturday April 28,
by officials of the Special Investigation
Bureau (SIB) of the Nigeria Police and
summarily taken to Yenagoa, where he is
being detained in solitary confinement
over his comments --- comments deemed
critical of poor governance, corruption, and
the hubris and excesses of government
officials.
On Facebook and other social media, Tonye
Okio wrote extensively about the need for
moderation, accountability, and the human
and infrastructural development of the
country.
He was also very active on the Ijaw Nation
Forum (a forum for Ijaw worldwide) where
he championed the plight of the
downtrodden and vigorously condemned
the searing poverty and underdevelopment
of the Niger Delta.
What brought him to the attention of the
Police, the State Security Service (SSS) and
other security and intelligence services, was
his constant but honest criticism of President
Jonathan and Governor Dickson.
That he is from the same region/state with
the President did not dissuade him from
speaking the truth, or be less critical of
wrongs and the rut that has come to
characterize his home state and country.
In addition to being a torn on the flesh of the
President, many see his arrest as part of the
“house-cleaning exercise” by the Goodluck
Jonathan camp. This argument is plausible
because Mr. Okio is an ally of Governor
Timipre Sylva. In today’s Bayelsa State, many
known allies and supporters of Chief Sylva are
being persecuted.
According to the information found on the
pages of the Nigerian Current website, this is
the chronology of events as they happened:
On Saturday, October 26, about 15 men,
including plain-clothes Special Investigation
Bureau (SIB) officials and those attached to
the Police Mobile Force (otherwise known as
kill-and-go Police), invaded the Abuja
residence of Tonye Okio in three vehicles (one
Prado Jeep and two Police Escort vans) and
forcefully seized him. Thereafter, they took
his iPad and the mobile phones of himself and
his younger sister;
After getting their target, he was taken to the
headquarters of the Abuja Command of the
Nigeria Police. He stayed with his abductors
who claimed they were trying to arrange a
flight to take him to Yenagoa via Port
Harcourt International Airport.
When the flight arrangement failed, the police
decided to take Tonye by road. They left Abuja
about 4:00 pm Saturday and arrived Yenagoa
about 1:00 am on Sunday, October 27. He
was taken straight to the State Criminal
Investigation Department (CID) of the Nigeria
Police where he is being detained illegally;
The Police authorities claim that Tonye Okio
will be charged for allegedly writing on his
Facebook page recently that an unnamed
South-South Governor was recently caught in
the US with 5 million USD. Tonye denies the
charge;
Since his detention, Sir Okio has been
denied access to visitors. Police sources
say they have been given stern
instructions by the Bayelsa State Police
Commissioner Hillary Opara, to deny that
Tonye Okio is at the State CID;
In addition to the regular police that man the
gates of the State CID, the surroundings have
been taken over by Mobile Police men,
numbering about 10, apparently because of
the high value detainee;
In the recent past, Professor Okey Ndibe, a
noted public intellectual was detained in
Nigeria for doing what democracy, decency
and patriotism demands of him. Since Okey
Ndibe was first harassed, many critics and
public intellectuals have been warned to
desist in their criticism of President
Jonathan and his administration.
We also know this to be the case in
Bayelsa State where Governor Henry
Seriake Dickson, Jonathan’s surrogate and
apologist, have been harassing and
tormenting critics and opponents. This is a
state where everyone must toe the line.
Dissension is not allowed. Critics and
criticism are not welcomed.
President Jonathan and Governor Henry
Dickson must stop this idea that “You are
either for us or against us.” Persecuting
and prosecuting critics must stop. Sending
“attack dogs” after opponents must stop.
Investigating and spreading lies against
perceived opponents and critics must also
stop. In other words, private and public
witch-hunting by government and its
agents must stop.
If Tonye Okio abridged the law, then, charge
and prosecute him before a legally constituted
court of law. Even so, the rule of law must
not be personalized. We are however
confident – very confident -- that he is being
intimidated and terrorized because of his
politics.
Power is fleeting, it is transient. It is
therefore futile and reckless to get drunk on
power. And so we call on President Jonathan
and Governor Dickson to commence the
immediate release of Sir Tonye Okio. If law
abiding citizens like Mr. Okio are being
harassed and illegally detained, then, no one
can be safe from the tyranny and ruthlessness
of the state and or federal government.