Wes alumnus being detained in Nigeria [u]

Andrew Berends ’94, a Wes alumnus and documentary filmmaker, is being questionably detained by Nigerian authorities.

Berends was provisionally released into the custody of the U.S. Embassy over the weekend and was expected to be cleared today, but new reports claim that Berends has been re-detained and is—again—in the custody of the Nigerian State Security Services.

The former Film major was filming a documentary about the ongoing violence in the oil-rich Niger Delta region when he was arrested, along with his translator, and held without water, food, sleep, or a lawyer for 36 hours. Nigerian police, the army, and the Nigerian State Security Services interrogated him, accusing him of spying.

The U.S. State Department and various U.S. senators have intervened, but as today’s continuing detention makes clear, more help is needed. Check out Help Andy, a blog set up to build media awareness about, and solicit help for, Andy’s plight.

Calls to your local senators, as well as calls to the New York Senate delegation (Berends is a New Yorker) are encouraged. For more information, check out the New York Times report on Berends.

[Thanks to Wesleying friend Ed McKeon for the tip.]

—
2008-09-09 4:57 PM: According to the Help Andy blog, Berends is still being detained without charges:

It’s Tuesday morning now, and this is the 10th day since Andrew’s arrest arrest and the seizure of his passport and belongings. Nothing has changed. The Nigeria Security Services still have his passport. They have given no indication of when he will be free to go or if he will be charged with any crime.

—
2008-09-10 2:34 AM: The Help Andy blog reports that Berends’ ordeal is now over, and he’ll be arriving back in the United States soon:

We would like to express our sincerest thanks and gratitude to all those who helped in the release of Andrew Berends from Nigerian custody. Andy has now left Nigeria and will return to the United States shortly.

(Visited 4 times, 1 visits today)

12 thoughts on “Wes alumnus being detained in Nigeria [u]”

  5. Anonymous

    Agreed. Who knows what, if anything, it’ll accomplish, but it feels like we should mobilize a student calling effort.I’d like to think of Wes as the kind of place that does that, just on the principal of showing support, and if does even slightly expedite his release, that’s awesome.

  6. Anonymous

    Agreed. Who knows what, if anything, it’ll accomplish, but it feels like we should mobilize a student calling effort.

    I’d like to think of Wes as the kind of place that does that, just on the principal of showing support, and if does even slightly expedite his release, that’s awesome.

  7. Anonymous

    I can’t help but feel that if we were Harvard, we’d have gotten them released by now. So maybe we don’t have quite the political sway of Harvard – but dammit, we’ve got a hell of a lot more heart (not to mention protesting/direct action practice). Let’s get them released already. EVERYONE CALL YOUR SENATOR TOMORROW.

  8. Anonymous

    I can’t help but feel that if we were Harvard, we’d have gotten them released by now. So maybe we don’t have quite the political sway of Harvard – but dammit, we’ve got a hell of a lot more heart (not to mention protesting/direct action practice). Let’s get them released already. EVERYONE CALL YOUR SENATOR TOMORROW.

  9. Anonymous

    This is terrible! Although, I hope that once this inevitably becomes bigger in the media, they don’t just spin it as a “naive, idealistic white guy swallowed by the dark heart of Africa” story”.

  10. Anonymous

    This is terrible! Although, I hope that once this inevitably becomes bigger in the media, they don’t just spin it as a “naive, idealistic white guy swallowed by the dark heart of Africa” story”.

Comments are closed.