Police brutality activist says she was barred from leaving Nigeria

By Libby George
LAGOS, Nov 4 (Reuters) - Nigerian immigration officials
blocked a prominent anti-police brutality activist from leaving
the country and confiscated her passport, she told Reuters on
Wednesday.
There was no immediate response from immigration authorities
to requests for comment on the assertion by Modupe Odele, a
lawyer who has helped arrange legal defence for protesters
campaigning against police violence.
Odele said that when she tried to board an international
flight at Murtala Muhammed Airport in Lagos on Nov. 1,
immigration authorities told her that she was under military
investigation and thus barred from leaving Nigeria.
When she met immigration authorities on Nov. 3, they
declined to return her passport, but did not tell her why the
military is investigating her or outline any charges. Odele said
the military has not contacted her.
Army spokesman Sagir Musa referred questions on Odele's
case, and on whether any other protesters were under
investigation or barred from travel, to immigration officials.
A spokesman for the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) did
not respond to calls or WhatsApp messages, nor did the
Department of State Services, the security agency that would bar
Nigerians from leaving or entering the country for security
reasons.
Nigeria's Interior Ministry on Tuesday denied local news
reports that said it had compiled a "no-fly list", saying that
any such list was "not the responsibility of the ministry or its
associated agencies."
Peaceful demonstrations against police violence turned
bloody on Oct. 20, when witnesses and rights group Amnesty
International said military and police opened fire on
protesters, killing at least 12. Odele provided help to protesters as part of a group of
volunteer lawyers, www.endsarslegalaid.co, trying to secure the
release of individuals arrested for protesting against alleged
abuses by a police unit known as the Special Anti-Robbery Squad.
A human rights group called the Feminist Coalition called on
Nigerians to stop protesting, and it closed off new donations
after raising 147,855,788.28 naira ($388,072.94), following an
appeal by President Muhammadu Buhari on Oct. 22 for an end to
the demonstrations. In a statement at the time, the group said its priority was
"the welfare and safety of the Nigerian youth."
($1 = 381.0000 naira)