Family members of Publisher of Desert Herald Newspaper, Tukur Mamu, have appealed for administrative bail, so he can get required medical attention.
Mamu’s children – Faisal Tukur Mamu, Dr. Zainab Tukur Mamu, Usama Tukur Mamu, Nazir Tukur Mamu, Kashim Tukur Mamu, Marwan Tukur Mamu (two years old), on behalf of the family, made the appeal in a statement made available to Blueprint in Kaduna on Monday December 11, 2023.
According to the statement titled, “A Passionate Appeal for Mercy”, the family said the appeal became necessary in view of their father’s deteriorating state of health.
“On behalf of the family of Tukur Mamu, we the children of of the above mentioned person call on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the Vice President, Senator Kashim Shettima and the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu and the President of the Senate, Senator Godswill Akpabio to please in the name of God Almighty and in the name of humanity to wade in on the continuous detention of our father and help ensue his bail.
“We are not seeking for the discontinuation of our father’s trial but we are passionately pleading for your good office and for you as a loving and responsible father to please grant our father administrative bail so that he
will urgently do the much needed surgery,” the statement said.
According to the family, their father, Tukur Mamu has a well documented history of respiratory ailments which forced him to travel to Egypt for medical treatment several times before his arrest and incarceration.
“As a result of this medical condition, his Indian doctor had recommended that the use of a medical device in the night during his sleep to avoid sudden heart failure or heart attack.
“Futhermore, the implanting of the device was a temporary measure as it was recommended that he goes for a major surgery that would correct this respiratory imbalance.
“According to his doctor, significant part of his respiratory system has been blocked and so a surgery is urgently required.
“This recommendation and conclusion was about three years ago. It was eventually arranged for him to travel and have the surgery in Cairo it was in that process and on transit to do the surgery that he was arrested on 6th September, 2022,” the statement said.
They explained that the complete medical report of their father’s ailment was handed over to officers of the Department of State Security (DSS) with request that he be allowed to go for treatment but the appeal was rejected.
“Futhermore, our father’s two years in the custody of the DSS has complicated his health challenges as he developed High Blood Pressure.
“It is in light of this that we make the following passionate appeal,” the statement said.
They submitted that even if the passport of their father will not be released, they will be willing to take the risk and do the surgery for him here in Nigeria even if it is under the supervision of the government as he needs to be mentally and psychologically stable in order to undergo the surgery
“It is in view of all the health challenges that the family is appealing to the President, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Vice President, Senator Kashim Shettima, Senate President, Godswill Akpabio and National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu to wade in and help arrange for an administrative bail for their father.
“Finally, we the children of Tukur Mamu wish to tender our unreserved apologies to any one whom our father may have offended in the discharge of his duties as a media practitioner.
“We also apologise for any article considered offensive and for any psychological trauma that our father’s newspaper may have caused anyone. We are using this medium to appeal for forgiveness,” they said.
