I’m an academician not a kidnaper – Benue Fed Varsity don cries out

Ichor Tersagh Smart, a lecturer in the department of Microbiology, Joseph Saawuan Tarka University formerly known as Federal University of Agriculture Makurdi has cried out that he was an academician and not a kidnapper as alleged by wife of his colleague and the chairperson of the university chapter of Academic Staff Union of Universities, (ASSU) Paul Igber Anyagh.

The university don, who cried out on Thursday, while interacting with journalists in Makurdi, Benue State capital, explained that the allegation by Susan Anyagh that she saw him at the scene of her kidnap was a hallucinated fabrication, a falsehood that she carelessly crafted in cahoots with the husband and a few of other colleagues in the University to misinform the public and tarnish his hard-earned and established impeccable integrity and image.

Ichor stated that he had engagements in his village in Ikurav Tiev 2 in Katsina Ala LGA and was not close to Makurdi throughout that weekend and had left Makurdi for Katsina-ala on Friday 6th December, 2024 in company of the Commissioner for ICT and Digital Economy, Hon. Kwaghgba Amande, the Executive Secretary, Benue State Universal Basic Education Board, Joseph Jande as well as the President General, Ikurav Tiev Development Association, Terlumun Orhembetyoga among others for burial of their kinsman, Shen Agbo whose wake keep held on 6th and burial on the 7th December, 2024.
“I couldn’t have duplicated myself to be at the scene of the imaginary kidnap of Mrs Anyagh and at the same time be at the burial in my village on the same day, the distance from Makurdi to my village notwithstanding,” he emphasized.

He stressed that the statements that he made calls to the kidnappers to kill the victim to conceal whatever secret she imagined as another make-belief delusion because the Police during their investigation have traced his phones and established that he did not make or receive any call throughout that Saturday, 7th December, 2024.
“We left very early to the burial and upon arrival, there was limited network and the battery of my phone drained in the course of the burial,” he emphasized .

The Environmental Microbiologist and Bioremediation specialist further said that he was nominated by the church in the village, NKST Abo, for award at her 30th anniversary as a consistory which was held on the 8th December 2024 saying that, “If the ASUU JOSTUM branch chairperson’s wife, Mrs. Susan Anyagh saw me at the scene of her kidnap, then she was not kidnapped.”

He narrated that the ASUU JOSTUM branch operates two welfare accounts, the national and local welfare accounts. The local welfare account domiciled with Zenith Bank with account number 1010646893 has had challenges of gross misappropriation by the leadership of the union at the branch which concerned members of the branch have on several occasions called for its audit which the Chairperson Dr Anyagh has failed to accede to the demand.
According to him, “There has been sustained mindless embezzlement and allocation of funds to some selected ASUU members in the name of borrowing over the years without any attempt for recovery which has crippled the effective management and fulfillment of the branch obligation to genuinely affected members of the Union especially the families of our deceased colleagues as encapsulated in the operational guidelines of the welfare document.”

He emphasized that “the same scenario had played out previously and the National Executive Committee of ASUU had intervened and provided funds where the affected families of our colleagues were paid and are supposedly recovering monies from the past Chairperson. Over 50 members of the branch wrote the Chairperson to express their concerns and even to ASUU NEC through him as required, including me without any response. Instead, the Chairperson has blocked everybody from posting anything on all the ASUU – JOSTUM social media platforms when members started sharing their concerns over his financial misconduct.
“Anyagh has killed the internal democracy that ASUU is known for at the branch. A meeting of the ASUU JoSTUM Branch was slated to hold on the 5th December, 2024, on a Thursday morning, so I posted the dates of withdrawals, cheque numbers, amounts and names of the serial accredited perennial borrowers from the welfare account on the wider University Whatsapp group JOSTUM COMMUNITY for the University community to see the stealing that has been going on. In the meeting Dr Anyagh announced that he was going to end posting of ASUU issues on University platforms other than ASUU. On the 7th December, 2024, a day after I was allegedly present at the scene of the kidnap of the Chairperson’s wife calling kidnappers to kill her. Is this the kidnapping?” he asked.

On his ordeal in the custody of Nigeria Police, the Academic Don detailed that he left his village for Katsina Ala town on Saturday after the burial, at about 4:30am and early hours of Sunday at about 4:30 am his wife called through his immediate younger sister’s phone that police have gained entrance to their house through the fence led by one DSP Daniel Ezeala the then DPO of ‘E’ Division AKpehe, and were looking for him and invaded the house without a search warrant, beleaguered the family, scattered the clothes and the wife’s underclothes under the facade of searching for him and towed his car away to the station.

He said: “the police also shot guns in the compound. I returned to Makurdi on same Sunday, 8th December, 2024 at about 9 pm and told Ezeala through a phone call that I was coming to the station the following day by 8 am. I reported as promised and upon sighting me, Ezeala signed my detention order and handed me over to the IPO who confronted me with the statements of Mrs Anyagh as the complainant and Dr. Paul Igber Anyagh as the nominal complainant alleging that she sighted me at the scene of her kidnap and also heard me clearly directing the kidnappers to kill her through a phone call.

“I was detained for a night at E division, moved to police State headquarters the following day where I was detained for two days; Prof. Ahemen Iorkyaa who came visiting was detained for a night, his offence was that he came to see me. On 12th December, 2024, thursday evening, I was moved to the headquarters of operation Dzenda in Makurdi. At operation Dzenda, Dr. Anyagh’s relation who hails from the same village in Gwer West LGA of Benue State; Inspr Moses Iorpav was among others assigned as an investigating police officer (IPO) with one Inspr Bukar Alhassan as the leader of the investigation team. In the absence of Bukar and when investigation had not commenced, Moses Iorpav on the evening of Friday 13th December 2024 brought me out from the cell and handed me over to the then ASP now DSP David Mondo for torchure. I was mercilessly beaten; David pounded my feet with a 2×2 wood with a promise to disable me. He dislocated one toe on my left foot and four of my toes on the right foot as revealed by X ray. They also brought Dr. Anyagh, his wife and one Aper Zava who stood by the window and watched my brutalisation and maltreatment.”
According to the University Don, upon his release he read the account of the Benue State Police, Makurdi command wherein they promised through a press release signed by the PPRO, CSP Sewuese Anene to inform the public of the result of their investigation.
“Regrettably after almost over thirty five days of my incarceration in police custody up to today, the command has not fulfilled its promise to the public. And there was no Commissioner’s interview between the complainants and me while with the Makurdi Police command as is done until the takeover of the case by FCID.”

He was eventually released by the Force Criminal Investigation Department (FCID) of Nigeria Police after thorough investigation.
Ichor, through his legal Counsels, Barr I A Ututu, Barr. Vincent Tortsugh and Barr. Emmanuel Ahembahan filed a suit to enforce his fundamental human right at the Federal High Court of Nigeria in the Abuja Judicial division. Holden at Abuja on Tuesday, the 4th day of February 2025 before his Lordship, the Hon. Justice Emeka Nwite Jude ordered that the arrest and detention of Dr. Smart Ichor beyond 24hours were clear gross and flagrant breach of his fundamental rights to personal liberty guaranteed under sections 35 and 46 of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as such a fine of N5, 000,0000,00 (Five Million Naira) only was awarded in his favour as damages.