A Nigerian medical doctor, Rose Agwu, in a series of spanning Friday and Saturday has cried for help after soldiers allegedly invaded her country home in Abia State and arrested her 15-year-old brother and sister.
Her sister’s arrest on Friday May 31, 2024 came a day to her June 1 birthday, Rose said.
Rose, who resides in Lagos, according to her response to someone in the trail of tweets, stated that the family home is in Obikabia Junction in the Aba area of the state, where the abduction took place.
According to her, rampaging soldiers broke into her parents’ home and took away her siblings, sparing only her mother and 72-year-old father. The incident reportedly happend at about 5 am on Friday.
Her Friday May 31 tweets begin, “At exactly this time 5am yesterday while I was at the hospital running my Accident and Emergency shift and saving lives, the Nigerian army broke into my home, forced my 72year old father to sit in an unhealthy position while they took away my 15 year old brother and sister.
“Till now my siblings have not been returned home, my Family have being in panic and living in fear, the doors and gates were broken, no arrest warrant was shown, no official statement as to why they were took my minor sibling or sister. This is not how justice is served!
“My mother already left for Aba, I’m in Lagos and can’t travel now and we are still not sure of where they were taken to.”
According to Rose, her two unnamed siblings were taken away without any information on their whereabouts or the reason for their arrest.
She stated, “Till now, they have not been released. We are still trying to locate them. Please help us ask the Nigerian Army the logical reason behind this and how they can account for all the people they took and their plans for them.
“I don’t want to hear stories, please. This is how people go missing and get killed. Please release my siblings, they know nothing about the shooting or unknown gunmen, please.”
It may be recalled that soldiers posted to enforce peace in the state went on the offensive after five soldiers were killed at an Army checkpoint in the Aba area of the state on Thursday.
Following the attack, the Nigerian military vowed that the killers would not go scot-free.
On Saturday June 1 [today], Dr. Agwu continued her tweets, noting that today is her sister’s birthday, lamenting that her siblings are still in custody.
She stressed that her siblings’ rights are being abused through their unlawful detention. “Today, June 1, is my sister’s birthday and she’s in Army custody for a crime she knows nothing about. My sister is unproblematic. My family has no relation to the crisis going on in the country. We are law-abiding citizens and mind our business but here we are.”
She called on Governor Alex Otti to come to her family’s rescue and save her siblings.
“It’s my sister’s birthday today! A very traumatic birthday indeed. She’s being held by the Nigerian army who, without intelligence information, moved around arresting innocent law-abiding citizens living around where the attack on soldiers happened,” she stated over and over.
Like Agwu, many residents of Obikabia Junction in the Aba area have gone online to raise the alarm after soldiers allegedly raided their homes and picked up young people.
This move has caused public outrage as Nigerians condemned the invasion of homes and the arrest of innocent residents.
In its reaction, an X handle @Nigerian_Doctor that appears to speak for Nigerian doctors responded with a petition to Police Commissioner, Abia State Command Kenechukwu Onwuemelie. The tweep states: Dear CP Kenechukwu Onwuemelie, Commissioner of Police, Abia State Nigerian Police Command @AbiaPoliceNG:
Nigerian Doctors received with great anxiety and sadness the news that Doctor Rose Agwu
@RoseAgwu254246’s 15 year old brother and young sister were abducted by Nigerian Soldiers, when they broke into their home, close to Obikabia Junction, Aba, Abia State.
We plead for your intervention and mediation into this crisis. We plead for the immediate release of ALL the under-age Nigerian citizens in the custody of the Nigerian Army @HQNigeriamArmy.
We plead for a proper and speedy joint investigation, so innocent citizens can be released back to their homes.
Dr Rose Agwu is distressed and cannot serve the Nigerian people in this state.
Nigerian Doctors are becoming distressed too, as this can happen to any of our children and siblings, while we are serving the nation in various capacity.
In solidarity, we will soon join her in withdrawing our services from Abia State and the nation, at large.
