Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) in Nigeria have demanded that the police release Mr. Odey Oyama, an environmental and climate activist, from detention in Cross River State.
Oyama, Director of Rainforest Resource and Development Centre (RRDC), has been in police custody since last Tuesday, January 14, 2025, when he and six others were arrested in the Okuni area of Ikom Local Government Area (LGA).
Oyama was taken from his Okuni home.
According to media reports, they were apprehended while protesting the exploitation of Olulumo Effi Rainforest in Cross River state.
However, the police have yet to charge the detainees with any crime.
Oyama is a resolute campaigner for protecting the rainforest and biodiversity in Cross River, a cause that has brought him in constant confrontation with illegal loggers who plunder the state’s rich forest ecosystem.
In recent times, Oyama has been engaged in a fierce campaign against Chinese business concerns working with indigenous collaborators who are logging the Effi Rainforest, a trend that activists have blamed for massive deforestation, dissipation of wildlife and loss of biodiversity.
Protesting Oyama’s detention without trial, the CSOs described the police’s action as not only a flagrant disregard for due process but typical of their role in stifling dissenting voices, especially when vested business interests are at stake.
The group’s statement, issued on Sunday, January 19, 2024, and titled “The Arrest and Detention of Environmental Activist Odey Oyama by the Nigerian Police Signifies a Rising Trend of Abuse and Repression” was signed by 28 organisations including Corporate Accountability and Public Participation Africa (CAPPA)..
The statement noted that Oyama “was taken from his Okuni home and driven to Calabar where he was kept incommunicado, without legal representation and formal charges for at least 24 hours.
“Up till now, Odey has not been formally charged with any wrongdoing.
“The action of the Nigeria Police has once again demonstrated flagrant disregard for due process and their role in stifling dissenting voices, especially when vested business interests are at stake. In this instance, Odey Oyama a conscientious objector to the destruction of the environment, rather than enjoy the protection of the government, is being systematically persecuted.
“As civil society organizations and activists in Nigeria, we are familiar with the selfless campaigns of Odey Oyama that have earned him national and international recognition and have helped to preserve the ecological heritage of Cross River State. We are therefore alarmed that rather than support the efforts of Oyama and other campaigners like him to check the illegal destruction of the Cross River forests, the Police are complicit in weakening his resolve and repressing him. It is even more alarming that he was arrested and detained without formal charges against all extant Nigeria and international laws.
“We are also concerned that this latest arrest is symbolic of the growing intolerance of the government towards the legitimate activities of civil society organizations. In Cross River State in particular, we have witnessed a pattern of arrest and detention of journalists and activists on the flimsiest excuse, but covertly to stifle democratic dissent. We are worried that the civic space is shrinking at an accelerated rate in the state, and the Police are highly complicit in this deteriorating trend.
“We call on the Nigeria Police to immediately release Odey Oyama and his 6 associates and cease all further hostile acts against their persons and legitimate campaigns.
“We shall go to all legitimate lengths to enforce Odey Oyama’s right and his associates’ right to advocate peacefully without any let or hindrance.”
Apart from CAPPA, other organisations that endorsed the statement are Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF), We the People, Policy Alert, Kebetkache Women Development and Resource Centre, Peace Point Development Foundation (PPDF), ANI Foundation, Youths and Environmental Advocacy Centre (YEAC-Nigeria), YEAC Community Energy and Development (YEAC-CEAD), Life Empowerment Foundation, Lekeh Development Foundation (LEDEF), The Colonist Report Africa, Social Action Nigeria, Yeraba Women Foundation, and Health Education and Human Rights Advocacy Initiative (HEHRAI),
Others are Girls Power Initiative (GPI), Nkori Rural Women and Development Initiative (Uyo Iban Amplifier Initiative), Secure Health and Environment Development (SHADAfrica), Association Managing Development in Nigeria (ARADIN), Partnership for Social and Environmental Development Initiative P4SEDI, Green Planet Initiative International, PADIC, The Save Our Green Spaces Group, Emerald Forest Reserve, Ikoyi Osun, Osun State, Emilie Guitard, French National Center for Scientific Research CNRS, Save Ogunpa Forest Team, Rainbow Watch and Development Centre (RWDC), and Environmental Rights Action (ERA/FoEN).
