Amnesty International has rejected the Nigerian Police Force’s claim that five men arrested in Maiduguri while wearing “Tinubu Must Go” T-shirts were in possession of drugs, describing the explanation as an attempt to justify what it called their unlawful detention.

In a statement, Amnesty dismissed the drug allegation and accused the police of introducing a new narrative in an attempt to justify the continued detention of the men.

The rights organisation demanded the immediate and unconditional release of the five men — Baba Aji Gremami, Mustapha Abba Yemen, Abacha Mohammed Ali, Adam Umar Gubio and Abdulhamid Mohammed — insisting that expressing a dissenting political opinion is not a criminal offence.

The organisation said the Borno State Police Command must end what it described as “bizarre and desperate attempts” to justify the arrests.

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