Secret Cells

Investigative Reporters and Editors, Inc. The IRE Journal, Winter 2009 by Adebayo, Solomon K

Undercover work reveals illegal detention centers

Undercover investigative work and audio recordings helped me prove the existence of illegal, secret detention centers operated by a government agency in Abuja, Nigeria's federal capital city.

The investigation focused on the Abuja Environmental Protection Board. The agency used a task force of fierce-looking men employed as casual workers and paid them according to the number of people they captured and slammed into detention centers for allegedly violating the board's regulations. The men targeted petty traders, vendors and artisans.

The federal government created the environmental board to try to ensure clean conditions and development of the new capital city. The influx of peasants and traders to the new capital led to the mushrooming of satellite settlements around the city. The board's mission was to make Abuja look like London and other capital cities in developed countries.

The new capital was conceived during the military administration in 1 976 to serve as a solution to the perennial traffic gridlock, hustle and bustle of Lagos, the previous capital. Abuja also is expected to serve as a model city of unity, where all Nigerians would have equal opportunity of land ownership and other rights.

The city's master plan called for Abuja to be developed in phases, to accommodate all Nigerians, rich and poor. However, that plan was violated by the sudden movement of the seat of government from Lagos to the partly developed capital city in 1992 by the military administration of Gen. Ibrahim Babangida following attempts to topple his government. No attempt was made to control the development of the satellite towns around the new capital, where workers flocked to try to make a living. Low-income workers couldn't afford to live in the central city.

In the course of reporting what became a three-part radio package, I discovered three detention cells: two for male detainees and one for the females, including nursing mothers. To gain entrance to the high-security detention centers, I posed as a relative of a detainee. This gave me the opportunity to have a clearer picture of the subhuman conditions.

With my hidden voice recorder, I was able to interview detainees, one of whom was arrested for "obstructing justice" and had spent three days in a room packed with more than 30 men - with one window. The detainees included an unemployed university graduate whose offense was challenging the task force's inhumane methods. The detainees told of their experiences, which included having to urinate and defecate in the room where they were detained.

Aside from their arrest and detention, most of the victims had their property seized and shared among the task force members. Others whose motorbikes were seized had to pay a bribe of about $100 to get them back.

One interesting puzzle I had to unravel was the role of the police. In the course of my investigation, I discovered that a few policemen, including a superior officer, guarded and held the keys of the illegal cells.

A magistrate and a lawyer presided over what can best be described as a kangaroo court. The lawyer coerced the detainees to pay him a fee of about $50 to represent them before the magistrate. Later, the lawyer wrongly advised the detainees to plead guilty to any charges.

The victims, including children as young as 14, often were marched in a group of about 1 5 to 1 8 before the magistrate. He read the charges, and the detainees typically pleaded guilty as earlier directed by the lawyer. The magistrate convicted them and ordered them to pay a fine of $70. Those who could not raise the money were normally ordered to prison.

Posing as a client, I was able to get information from the lawyer on how he operated.

After these findings, I did thorough research on the board: its formation, laws guiding its operations and its responsibilities. My findings revealed that the board has no power under the law to operate the way it did. I confronted the board chairman, who during an interview initially denied the existence of the detention centers. When I put my information on the table, she said that the people detained under subhuman conditions deserved such treatment. Most importantly, she vehemently denied collecting money from victims whose motorbikes were seized.

Puncturing this lie was vital to my report, so I went undercover and posed as the owner of a seized motorbike. I collected the particulars of the bike from its owner and pretended as if I wanted to secure its release, with my hidden recorder on. I was asked to pay a bribe before securing the release of the bike. Although the chairman denied collecting a penny on seized bikes, I had audio of her staff asking me to pay for its release.

I questioned the police high authority on their role in the operation of the illegal cells, but as expected the high command denied sending men to serve as guards.

The first part of my report attracted the attention of human rights activists: the National Human Rights Commission, Nigeria Bar Association and other groups. The commission petitioned the attorney general and the minister of justice, who in turn wrote the minister of the federal capital territory (the parent ministry of the board) to institute a probe into the illegal detention centers.