Front Line is concerned following reports of repeated police harassment of human rights defender Mr Leo Igwe and his family, including the risk that fabricated murder charges may be brought against him. Leo Igwe is the West Africa representative of the International Humanist and Ethical Union (IHEU) and Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Humanist Movement.

Further Information

Since 2007, Leo Igwe has been the subject of harassment and intimidation for his work on the case of a ten-year-old girl who was raped in 2006.

In retaliation for Leo Igwe's work on the rape case, the alleged perpetrator Mr Ed.U. falsely accused him, his family as well as the family of the rape victim of involvement in illegal activities. These accusations, and the links that Ed.U. has with elements of the police, have led on several occasions to the arrest of Leo Igwe and his family members and to judicial proceedings against them.

The latest instance of police harassment occurred on 5 January 2010. At approximately 7 am, Leo Igwe and his father Oliver Igwe were arrested at their home in Mbaise in Imo State, by a group of police officers and soldiers who were accompanied by Ed.U. and a friend of his, Mr Et.U.

They were later informed that Et.U. had filed a complaint against them accusing Leo Igwe, his father, his three brothers and another man of murdering and attempting to conceal the murder of a man in September 2009, despite the fact that the alleged victim of murder died in a local hospital of natural causes, after a brief illness.

Following their arrest on 5 January, Leo Igwe and his father were brought to the police station in Ahiazu before being transferred to police headquarters in Umuahia. They reported having been threatened that they would be beaten and shot when they asked to be allowed to wash and change their clothes and to make a telephone call to their family to inform them of their arrest.

They were held for a day and released on 6 January. Three days later, on 8 January, Leo Igwe's brother Uche Igwe was taken into custody by the State Security Service. He was released on the same day. The police file for alleged murder remains open as of today.

Since he started working on the rape case against Ed.U in 2007, Leo Igwe has been arrested three times. His father, a 77-year-old man suffering from diabetes, has been arrested on six occasions. Two of Leo Igwe’s brothers have also been detained three times. Ed.U. and Et.U. have together filed three civil suits against Leo Igwe, his family and the rape victim's father at three different courts, in Ahiazu, Owerri and Aba, claiming damages of over 500 million naira (2.4 million euro). Two of these are still pending. Ed.U. and Et.U. have also written petitions calling for Leo Igwe's brothers to be fired from their jobs.

Leo Igwe has filed several complaints against Et.U. for providing false information to the police. However, the police have not yet taken any action.

Front Line believes that the police and judicial harassment of Leo Igwe and his family is directly related to his human rights work, in particular his involvement in the rape case against Ed.U.