By David Okoh.
The family of Isaac Akpokighe who was paraded by the Cybercrime Department of the Nigeria Police, has demanded for an immediate and unconditional release of their son.
Recall that Isaac Akpokighe, was paraded along with two other suspects, Adebukola Kolapo and Nnedum Michael by the Nigerian Police on January 3rd for allegedly being members of the Gistlover syndicate.
However, the family through a statement signed by Sunny Anderson Osiebe, a cousin to the suspect, and made available to newsmen on Sunday 7th January in Abuja, said Isaac is not a member of the Gistlover syndicate as alleged by the Nigeria Police.
The statement reads, “To the best of my knowledge, Isaac is not a member of the Gistlover syndicate as accused by the Nigeria Police.
“Isaac and 2 others were brought into Abuja on the 3rd of December, 2023, by the Cybercrime department of the Nigeria Police.
“I intervened in the matter, and after over 2 weeks of police investigation, they discovered that he was not actually a suspect in the matter.
“This made the police grant him bail under certain conditions. I swung into action and got the level 15 officer as requested by the Police for his bail.
“On the 24th of December, just at the point of perfecting the bail conditions, the Investigation Police Officer (IPO) incharge of the case, told me that he just received an order from above to change it to a level 16 officer.
“This made my cousin spend the Xmas break in detention. Consequently, on the 27th of December, I got a level 16 officer to stand as a surety.
“His documents were accepted while the letter of introduction from his place of work was rejected. This again made him spend the new year in detention.
“On the 3rd of January, 2024, the surety brought another letter of introduction which the Police Cybercrime department accepted. This meant that all the bail conditions have been fully satisfied.
“At that point, they didn’t know what excuse to give me or anybody else. After about a few hours of waiting, the IPO came out to tell me to go and come back on Friday, the 5th, to enable the DIG investigation to give final release approval.
“Only for the Police to parade them that same Friday I was asked to come back to get my cousin, Isaac Akpokighe.
“The police said in its press release that they would be charged to court after investigation. Does this mean that the police didn’t do due diligence before parading them???
“How do you parade people you are still investigating??? Which reasonable and responsible organisation does that??? It amounts to defamation and intimidation.
“This is happening at a time President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has constantly assured Nigerians of a renewed hope in all ramifications.
“It’s most unfortunate and disheartening that one has to go through hell to secure bail for an innocent Nigerian.
“Gistlover has openly demanded that the Police should show the world the link the trio have with its operations.
“From the communication and interaction I had with the police before the parade, I demand the immediate and unconditional release of my brother as he has no link whatsoever with Gistlover”.
