Picture a Nigerian terror kingpin in your mind. Think about the clothes he is wearing, the house he lives in, the weapons he wields, the terror cell he oversees and the ideology he represents. Now think about the biggest terrorist in all of Nigeria. Think about what the terrain around him would look like if you could stand next to him. Is he somewhere in Borno, or perhaps stationed across the border in Chad or Niger waiting to launch an attack on Nigerian territory?
What individual image comes to mind? What would this person’s name be? Abubakar Shekau of Boko Haram? Iskilu Wakili the Fulani militia warlord? Abu Musa al-Barnawi the ISWAP leader? Maybe even Terwase Akwaza (Gana) the terror of the Middle Belt, or Chukwudi Onuamadike (Evans) the multimillionaire kidnapper? All wrong. None of these terrible men can hold a candle to the fellow below who is the source of all of Nigeria’s problems and the most important target to be neutralised by the Nigerian state. His name?
Adeyeun Imoleayo Michael: The software engineer
Shortly after leaving Nigeria last year, one of the first cases of imprisoned #EndSARS protesters I busied myself with was that of a young software developer called Imoleayo Michael. Imoleayo, as we began calling him, was apparently one of those who left his house in Abuja to join the on-street peaceful protest in October 2020. In fact, it is entirely possible that during the infamous weekend of October 10-11 when the police in Abuja brutally unleashed themselves on the peaceful protesters, he was one of those who took an eyeful of teargas and the beating of police horsewhips.
https://twitter.com/DavidHundeyin/status/1315298947452239875
Imoleayo left his wife, young son and aged mother at home and went out to join the protest. Where many in his shoes might have seen this as a high-risk action for someone with a family depending on him, he explained his decision in simple terms to me when we spoke. According to him, his work as a Software Engineer often obliges him to move around with his laptop, putting him at risk of summary execution at the hands of SARS. In his mind, he had no choice but to protest and fight for a future where doing his job would not expose him to being murdered by crooked police.
Like many others, Imoleayo only went out twice to protest, but apparently that was all that it took for his life to change drastically. He was later arrested and detained for more than a month while we tried to rally media and legal support to get him out. Eventually on Christmas Eve, Imoleayo was granted bail and released. That however, was just the start of a saga that illustrates the depths to which the Nigerian government is willing to sink when bullies are in power.
Adeyeun Imoleayo Michael: The Nigerian state’s easy target
Describing to me what happened a few weeks after the protests ended, he said:
“I was abducted in my residence on the 13th Nov 2020 at about 2.30am. I was taken into DSS custody where I was detained in an underground cell for 41 days without any form of communication with my family. After being granted bail however, the DSS is still bent on prosecuting me for the crime of protesting for the betterment of my fatherland. The DSS has clearly picked on me as a target because I’m not a celebrity, and has chosen to use me as a scapegoat.”
Since being freed from custody, Imoleayo has been dragged in and out of different court hearings and legal proceedings with “witnesses” making fantastical testimonies against him in court for his alleged heinous crime – exercising his constitutional right to free speech, free movement and free assembly. The content of the hearings themselves are not so much the issue here – it is the malicious intent behind them.
The DSS has clearly been given instructions from above to teach young Nigerians a lesson about defying the state by using one or two #EndSARS protesters as convenient scapegoats. Renowned as it is for its legendary cowardice underneath its tough-guy exterior, which stretches back to the Babangida era, the DSS is not daring to go after high profile participants in the protests. Those Tavor rifles and strong arm tactics are not for those with large public profiles or influential parents – it is for the likes of Imoleayo. Ordinary hard working Nigerians who just want a better life.
Describing his situation further, he told me:
“My only crime is to seek for a better Nigeria where as a Software Engineer, I can be at peace moving with my Laptop and not be killed by SARS. I have a wife, son and aged mother to cater for but my working tools are still being withheld by DSS, restricting me from making a living. All I want is my freedom and my life back to normal.”
In a country which is going through unprecedented nationwide security collapse, it is amazing that the State Security Services would dedicate this much time and effort to maliciously bullying a harmless software developer with a young family. This however, is where Nigeria is right now in the 6th year of the Great Buhari Experiment. A president who is not aware. An army that kidnaps and rapes women in the barracks for 4 months. A police force that robs and murders young men. A shameless security agency, which cannot pick on targets its own size. This is Nigeria now.
And a young software developer called Imoleayo Michael is the biggest threat to national security.
Or so the DSS would have us believe.
