A member of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) serving in the Federal Capital Territory has reportedly been held for more than two months by operatives of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) without a court order.
Joseph Phillip, from Plateau State, was serving as a Mathematics and Physics teacher at the International Model Science Academy, located at the National Mathematical Centre in Sheda, Kwali Area Council, Abuja, when he was arrested following a dispute with the school’s proprietor.
Sources say Phillip was accused of fraud after he organized extra coaching classes for students preparing for scholarship examinations without the school owner’s approval. The matter escalated when the proprietor reportedly alerted NSCDC officials, leading to Phillip’s arrest at the agency’s Kwali division and subsequent transfer to the Intelligence and Investigation Unit of the NSCDC command in Abuja.
A former detainee who was held at the same facility, Chimezie Otuojor, told Chronicles Reporters that Phillip has remained in custody for approximately 65 days without being charged before a court. Otuojor alleged that NSCDC officials demanded ₦1.3 million from Phillip, in addition to ₦120,000 described as a “commandant’s service charge,” as a condition for his release. He added that Phillip’s health has deteriorated during his detention, and he is reportedly not being provided with adequate food.
“He is a Mathematics and Physics teacher. In the course of his primary assignment, he discussed with some parents, and they agreed to register their kids for scholarship examinations,” Otuojor said. “The parents knew he was doing it personally and not through the school. They paid him to help register their children, and he did so.”
According to Otuojor, the dispute began when the school proprietor learned about the arrangement and accused Phillip of fraud for organizing the lessons without notifying school management. “The next thing she did was call civil defence authorities. Their personnel came to the school, arrested him, and took him to their division in Kwali,” he said. Phillip was later transferred to the NSCDC command office in Wuse Zone 5, Abuja, where he has remained in detention because he could not raise the ₦1.4 million reportedly demanded.
Otuojor noted that Phillip completed his one-year national service while in NSCDC custody. “He has been there for over 60 days without any court order or being taken before a court of competent jurisdiction. The school principal who initiated the complaint has abandoned the matter, but the NSCDC officers insist that Phillip must pay ₦1.3 million before he can be released,” he said. Otuojor added that Phillip has no family member capable of raising the demanded amount.
Beyond Phillip’s case, Otuojor alleged that similar incidents of unlawful detention and extortion occur frequently at the NSCDC command in Abuja. He claimed that some officers detain individuals and pressure them to pay large sums of money to secure their freedom. “Once they get hold of their prey, they begin to physically assault them and forcefully make them sell their valuables to raise money if they don’t have the amount,” he alleged.
Otuojor cited another incident involving a suspect arrested for allegedly possessing a fake NSCDC identity card. “They kept him in their custody for more than 30 days and made sure he paid ₦1.5 million before he was released. Out of fear, the man had to sell some of his personal belongings to settle them,” he said. Detainees are reportedly threatened with imprisonment and told they would be transferred to correctional facilities if they fail to meet the financial demands. “It is on record that the FCT command has become a theatre of corrupt practices. They bundle Nigerians into their cells and threaten them with prison,” Otuojor added.
Efforts by Chronicles Reporters to obtain comments from officials of the NSCDC command in the Federal Capital Territory were unsuccessful at the time of filing this report.