The Northern Elders Forum (NEF) has strongly condemned the arrest of Professor Usman Yusuf, calling it a politically motivated attempt to suppress dissent and silence opposition voices.
They also recall that Professor Yusuf, a renowned Hematology-Oncology and Bone Marrow Transplant specialist and former Executive Secretary of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), was arrested on Wednesday, January 29, 2025, at his Abuja residence by operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
Reacting to the arrest in a statement, on Thursday, the Spokesperson of NEF, Prof. Abubakar Jika Jiddere, noted that Prof Yusuf was arraigned before a Federal High Court in the FCT on Thursday, January 30, 2025, but the case was adjourned to February 3, 2025.
Jiddere decried the arrest, labeling it a calculated move to intimidate opposition figures and suppress democratic voices.
He is a Professor of Hematology-Oncology and Bone-marrow transplant.
He said: “The Northern Elders Forum received the news of the arbitrary arrest of Professor Usman Yusuf on Wednesday 29th January 2025 around 4:30 pm at his residence in Abuja by the operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). Professor Usman Yusuf is a distinguished personality with high level credibility and unquestionable integrity.
“He is a Professor of Hematology-Oncology and Bone-marrow transplant. He was arraigned before a Federal High Court FCT presided by Justice Chinyere E. Nwecheonwu today Thursday 30th January, 2025. However, it was rescheduled for February 3th, 2025.
“The Northern Elders Forum is hereby calling for his release, as it sees his arrest as purely politically motivated to suppress and oppress popular democratic voices that openly challenge the poor public policies and bad governance being imposed on the people by this administration.”
It is a deliberate plan to silence and intimidate the political opposition and to reverse many of the democratic rights won by Nigerians over the years in the fight against dictatorship and all forms of inhuman oppressions.