Where Is Junaid Idris Kadi?
It started on 17th of October 2014 at about 9:30pm to 10:00pm somebody knocked at the door. He was a member of the National Hajj Committee, he was supposed to go but he refused to go because was writing his exams and the last paper was for Saturday morning. He was reading in the room and I went with my small baby, but he requested that we give him some space so that he would be able to study. Soon as I left the room, there was a knock at the door. While I made attempt to get the door he asked me not to open the door but should find out who was at the door first, because of Maiduguri’s situation. And especially there was a curfew from 7pm, which made him say that. We have my husband’s brother who stays at the boys’ quarters, when I asked, it was he who answered. His name is Judo. As soon as I partly opened the door I saw gun, I almost shouted, and the children were there at the time. They barged in and started trooping in; some of them in uniform with guns, some of them covered their faces with military uniform. My youngest daughter ran to her father crying and the other kids came out because they heard me shout. While my husband was about to come out from his room, they asked him to sit down, he sat down there with his younger brother. Because of this commotion, I took the children to another room for them not to see what will hurt their feelings. We never knew what happened from there. All I was hearing were movements from his room, and the children were crying. All I could do was to tell the children to stop crying, I myself didn’t know what was happening but was trying to calm the kids down.
After a while, Judo my husband’s brother came with my youngest daughter because she was crying. We kept quiet and within a time frame of 40 minutes, we had some silence in the house, I asked my brother in-law to go find out what was happening. He came back to me and said they had left, I asked, left with who? My husband? He said Yes, and I asked who they were. He responded It’s as if they are SS [State Security Service]. Then I responded that, I saw them in uniforms too, are you sure they are not Boko Haram? He answered no, that they were not Boko Haram because he had seen one of them, he thinks he is an SS operative. Then the children started shouting, Where is Baba? Where have they taken Baba to? I asked them to stop, that before the next day, he would be back. I didn’t know I was wrong. We waited all night, we didn’t sleep because I was thinking any moment he will be back, but by morning he was not back.
His brothers and cousins stay in the same house with us, so I called them and they said what we would do is to go and find out where was. A cousin of his said he knows someone in the SS and I also have a colleague whose husband is with the SS, so we went out around 9:00am on the morning of 18th October 2014. One cousin said someone told him he was in the SS office, so we all went back home. His friend a colonel came to the house around 2:00pm and said he had heard what happened, that in fact, he was at the SS office where he saw my husband and he asked him what happened but my husband said he too didn’t know. He then called someone in the SS office and put my husband on the line so we spoke. His mum, children, we all were in the house. The colonel said what I should do is to cook anything he likes and take it to him. On getting there, I asked him what happened. He said it has something to do with with Dr. Stephen [Davis], and about SAS [that is, Ali Modu Sheriff] and Ihejirika, because Dr. Stephen had said something about them. Dr. Stephen has been a family friend for the past 8 years thereabout, we first saw him in Maiduguri after Niger-Delta amnesty stuff. He was in Maiduguri with his wife Julie, we hosted them for 3 – 4 days, I didn’t know what brought them to Maiduguri but they came with a friend who knows my husband; so he took them to the Shehu’s palace and so many other places. I didn’t know what, but from there they have been communicating and have been in touch. Since this Boko Haram issue started, Dr. Stephen has been in good contact with my husband asking him about what is happening. Something came up about the peace treaty, I think my husband is part of it because he does the translation for Dr. Stephen.
WHEN THEY TOOK YOUR HUSBAND AWAY, DID THEY TAKE ANYTHING FROM YOUR HOUSE?
Yes they did, they took all his phones, his iPad and his laptop. That’s all they took.
When he went there after 5 days; he went there on Friday night 17th October 2014, then on Wednesday 22nd October 2014. At about 3.30pm he was released and asked to be reporting. He went on Friday, 24th October 2014 to report and he came back home. On Monday 27th October 2014, he left as early as 7.00 – 7:30am to report but never came back, I kept calling his number because people were visiting the house to see him since he was released and was back, but I got no response. He then called me that same day at about 2.00pm, that I should come to the SS office and take the car. But I asked Why should I do that? That when he finishes he should come with it. But he said no, that he was asked to wait for the Director of SS who went on a trip and was coming back, that he had to wait for him. Then I said fine, he should wait, but he insisted that he had something in the car, so he wanted me to come and pick it; then I agreed.
When I got there, I saw him in that same room he was detained, then I asked What is happening? Then somebody came in, I think he was the interrogator by name Sheriff and told me Madam no problem, don’t worry it’s just that Oga said he should wait for him, that he is on his way so probably if he doesn’t come home around 5:00pm, you can bring food for him; if he doen’t even come home today, maybe in the night or tomorrow morning. If we are through he is going to come back. Then I said Okay, fine. I took the car around 5:00 – 5:30pm. I went back and gave him the food. This was 27th of October 2014 up till now 10th of December 2014 he has been in detention.
DID THEY TAKE HIM AWAY FROM MAIDUGURI ON THE 27TH OF OCTOBER 2014?
No, they didn’t take him away from Maiduguri until November.
IS THERE ANY FORM OF TORTURE?
No. There was no form of torture as of the time I last saw him.
WHEN WAS HE MOVED AWAY FROM MAIDUGURI?
On Wednesday 19th of November 2014.
DID THEY GIVE YOU ANY REASON FOR MOVING YOUR HUSBAND?
I didn’t even know he was moved, nobody even told me.
BUT YOU WERE TAKING FOOD TO HIM?
Yes
THAT WAS ALLOWED IN MAIDUGURI?
Yes. I was about to take food to him on the 19th of November 2014, when I received a call that my husband had been moved. Then I had to come back home arrange for everything the very same day even though it was already late. I had to leave Maiduguri.
HOW DID YOU LEAVE MAIDUGURI?
By road of course!
WE NEED TO KNOW THE TORTURE YOU HAVE GONE THROUGH ALSO…
It’s really terrible! I don’t even want to talk about it because I don’t even know how to express it. I don’t know; what kind of trauma is that? My husband is a very sincere person I know, he is a very trustworthy person, he has never offended…
At this moment she got emotional and we had to encourage her to calm down,
that she has to be strong for her husband and the kids. She continued
He has been a law abiding person.
What I want to know is Why? Even he told them that there was no need for them to come to the house like that to embarrass him in front of his own children. They have been crying, my son is just 3 years and 6 months, now he knows his father has been taken away by people with guns. They were pointing the guns at my husband’s brother who led them to the house. They didn’t talk to anybody; at least they should have identified themselves. My husband told them that they would have at least invited him.
Let me tell you what happened. On Tuesday 18th November, when I took food to him in the evening, he said to me that he overheard someone saying maybe the following day, they will be taken to Abuja.
HOW MANY OF THEM?
I think there are some other guys but on the same problem.
THESAME DR. STEPHEN DAVIS PROBLEM?
Yes. I think it was those guys that implicated him. I don’t know the whole story but I think so.
He told me they may move them to Abuja, but that I should not tell his mum because she was really, really worried about him; and has been. When I got home at night, I had to call my brother in-law and tell him what was happening, but that I was not so sure. I requested that he should come by morning to the house to find out whether we would be leaving that day or not. I wanted him to come with his wife and stay with my children, because I could not just leave like that.
My mother in-law stays with us in the house because of this problem, but I was not confident that she could take care of the kids by herself, because of her condition. When I got home, I became too confused, because from the way I was seeing her, I wondered, How can I just leave in the morning without telling her the situation on the ground? Then I called her and told her that this is what is going to happen by tomorrow, but I that I wasn’t so sure, that we had to wait till the next day to find out. Then she started crying and she fainted, after a while she came around and fainted again for the second time. Throughout that night, she was not herself.
WHAT ARE THE LEGAL ACTIONS YOU HAVE BEEN TAKING SO FAR?
Right now, I don’t know anything about my husband. I left Maiduguri on Wednesday 19th November 2014 and spent the night in Kano because it was late, then I came into Abuja on Thursday morning of 20th November 2014. When I got here, I had to know what next step to take.
DID YOU GO TO THE DSS (DEPARTMENT OF STATE SECURITY)?
No, I didn’t.
A friend of his (my husband) called me and told me I had to go get a lawyer but before I left Maiduguri on Wednesday, I called someone in Abuja to get a lawyer for us. We had a meeting with the lawyer on Friday 21st November 2014 and we went to the SS office here in Abuja but we were not allowed to go inside. The lady we met at the gate said she could not allow us to go in. The lawyer insisted that what he wants is just for me to see my husband that I will be okay; she told us that we could not go in. She said the only thing we can do is to write a letter of application to see him that we were not given an appointment so could not just go in there.
We went back to the lawyer’s office, wrote the letter and we took it back. She said they are going to get back to us since November 21st 2014 up till today December 10th 2014 they have not gotten back to us.
DSS WHAT CHARGES DO YOU HAVE AGAINST JUNAIDU IDRIS KADI?
WHY ARE YOU ILLEGALLY INCARCERATING HIM?
HAVE YOU MURDERED JUNAIDU IDRIS KADI?
Regards,
Daniel ‘Seun
@Danielseun
iods2000@gmail.com
https://activistdanielseun.wordpress.com/2014/12/11/dss-have-you-murdered-junaidu-idris-kadi/