Victor Allen, now serving a twelve-month sentence in Nigeria, went on a hunger strike March 17, according to the London weekly The Newsletter. Charged with plotting the overthrow of the government, although he was engaged in research work, Dr. Allen is protesting repeated adjournments of the hearing of his appeal against sentence,
Three Nigerian trade unionists, Sidi Khayam, Jonas Kiomasekenagh Abam and Olushengun Adebayo, were arrested along with Dre Allen and similarly railroaded through . the courts. :
Dr. Allen sent a letter to his friends in England, the text of which was published in the March 27 Newsletter, The text of the letter is as follows:
“on June 16th, 1964, I was arrested in Lagos on charges which read like, and I think were, a plagiarism from a James Bond story. On. November 10th, after a trial lasting more than four months, I was found guilty and sentenced to 12 months! imprisonment. On March 3rd, 1965, a motion submitted to a Nigerian High Court for an accelerated hearing of my appeal was adjourned until March 10th, when it was further adjourned to April lst. These adjournments can continue until I have completed my sentence.
"But even if a date for my appeal is fixed on April lst, it is unlikely that the appeal proceedings can:‘be completed before the end of May.--.-This means that taking into account remission, and assuming that I do not lose any for making this protest, I will almost have completed my sentence before hearing the appeal, Irrespective of the final result of the appeal, this constitutes a miscarriage of justice. I am completely innocent of the charges against me and have been persistently and unbelievably persecuted and intimidated by the Nigerian authorities even after my imprisonment. As the constant and vociferous protests made on my behalf in Britain have been ignored, I am compelled to take action myself,
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"Therefore on Wednesday, March 17, I start an indefinite hunger strike which I will only voluntarily end when my appeal against conviction is heard. I will also engage in a non-violent protest by remaining in my cell and refusing to see or speak to anyone, ‘whether they be doctor, lawyer or High Commission representative, unless it is to hear that my grievance is being redressed,
"IT emphasise that this is not a token protest, I have taken a very serious decision but when an innocent person is gaoled and refused the means to protest his innocence, it is a very serious matter involving a principle of the higher order."