Amnesty International in Nigeria has condemned the arrest of Malam Ibrahim Musa, editor of Nigerian newspaper, Al-Mizan, by the country’s secret police in Kano on Wednesday.

The rights organization disclosed this in a statement posted on its Facebook official page on Wednesday.

The detained editor is a former spokesperson of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN).

The statement said, “Nigerian authorities must immediately and unconditionally release Mallam Ibrahim Musa — a former spokesperson of Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN) and Editor-in-Chief of Al-Mizan newspaper arbitrarily arrested on Wednesday, at the Aminu Kano International Airport in Kano.

“Ibrahim Musa has been in unlawful detention beyond the period recognized by Nigerian laws and keeping him in detention puts him outside a crucial safeguard against torture, ill-treatment, and enforced disappearance.”

A statement signed by Abdullahi Usman on behalf of Mr Musa’s family earlier on Wednesday said the editor was arrested by DSS at the Malam Aminu

Malam Aminu International Airport on his way to Saudi Arabia for lesser hajj (umrah).

Here is the full statement by the family:

This is announcing the abduction of the Editor-in-chief of Almizan newspaper, a weekly news magazine published in Hausa, Malam Ibrahim Musa, by the Department of State Service (DSS).

Ibrahim Musa, who was with a family member Binta Sulaiman, was abducted by the Nigeria’s secret police, DSS, at the Aminu Kano International Airport early morning on Wednesday while on his way to Saudi Arabia for the lesser Hajj (Umrah).

Meanwhile, no reasons have been provided by the authorities for his abduction even as he is known for his role in the call for the release of Sheikh Ibraheem Zakzaky (H), who was arrested at the wake of a clampdown and extrajudicial killing of about 1000 of his followers by the Nigerian government in 2015 in Zaria, Kaduna state.

He was part of the campaign that got the Federal High Court judgement ordering the release and compensation of Sheikh Zakzaky, the leader of Islamic Movement in Nigeria, for which it is believed the security agents who lost in the case are displeased.

Human rights organizations, especially the Amnesty International (AI), had pressured the immediate past Governor of Kaduna state, Malam Nasiru Elrufai to publicly announce that his government had buried about 350 people killed in the extrajudicial killing in a mass grave at Mando village in Kaduna.

Ibrahim Musa is known to have been active in speaking against the acts of state terrorism, extrajudicial killings and marginalization of a minority group of Muslims by the Nigerian Government under president Muhammadu Buhari.

He placed his life on the line to ensure justice is done and thousands of those arrested following the state managed mass murder were released by the government using available judicial means.

We wish to call for the immediate release and safety of Malam Ibrahim Musa whose only crime is standing against genocide and disregard to law and order perpetrated by those in power under the Buhari regime.

We also wish to draw the attention of the authorities and other stakeholders to the dangers behind extending the murder activities in which innocent men, women and children were extrajudicially killed by the immediate past regime, to the current regime of President Bola Ahmad Tinubu.

We want to believe that the current government of President Bola Tinubu would not want to identify itself with the abuse of democratic tenets, human rights abuse and intimidation through genocide perpetrated by the immediate past regime.

Hence, we reiterate the call for his immediate and unconditional release.