Police Hold FIJ Reporter One Week Despite Calls For His Release
Daniel Ojukwu, a journalist with the Foundation for Investigative Journalism (FIJ), an online news outlet, was snatched from his Lagos home by armed men who turned out to be cops a week ago. Despite loud requests for his release, he is still in police detention.
Ojukwu was abducted on Wednesday, May 1, just before Press Freedom Day this year.
Daniel Ojukwu was AWOL and his numbers had been disabled, we saw. The phone signals led to a later private inquiry indicating that he was located close to Isheri Olofin. Nobody knew where he was after that, he said.
Information subsequently obtained showed that his mother had located him at the State Criminal Investigation Department in Panti, Lagos. He was refused bail and no explanation was provided regarding the specifics of his arrest.
According to Ojenike, Inspector General of Police (IGP) Kayode Egbetokun’s office issued the order that led to Ojukwu’s “abduction”.
The reporter was sent later to the Force Criminal Investigation Department in Abuja after being refused access to his lawyer, according to the attorney.
“He has not been charged; he has not been charged before any court of competent jurisdiction but later he was presented with a petition regarding a certain story that he wrote about a certain deputy governor of Lagos State who is currently a special adviser to the President on Millennium Development Goals, Adejoke Orelope-Adefulire,” he said.
“We believe that the normal thing is for him to be granted bail,” the attorney added, citing a statement his client had made based on the petition filed against him.
Ojukwu is not at all a flight danger, and he would have accepted the police invitation if one had been extended. Therefore, there is no use in bringing people up in a way that agitates everyone,” Ojenike said.
He Must Respond to the Police Case
Eight days after the journalist was abducted and the attendant was incensed, Force spokesman Muyiwa Adejobi declared that Ojukwu had a case to answer on Sunday.
The Nigeria Police National Cybercrime Centre in Abuja has announced that journalist Daniel Ojukwu was detained in response to a petition that was filed against him.
There has been a breach of the Cybercrime Prohibition Act 2015 and other current local legislation. He has to present his case. The CP and centre head verified this to me on Sunday. Adejobi assured journalists in a WhatsApp group for crime reporters that the FHQ will take quick action to clear the murky areas.
Weeks after another journalist, Segun Olatunji, was detained for 14 days by state-sponsored security agents—a development that professional organisations such as the International Press Institute (IPI Nigeria) and the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) have dubbed an ugly trend—Ojukwu was arrested.
Many civil society organisations and pro-democracy campaigners have condemned Ojukwu’s detention and voiced deep anger over the imprisonment of journalists.
They said that the arrest of journalists by state security personnel in the Gestapo style is a relic from the past and a defining characteristic of the terrible years of military administration. Twenty-five years after Nigeria moved from dictatorship to democratic government, they claimed, the unpleasant trend undermined press freedom.
@PoliceNG has been holding Daniel Ojukwu arbitrarily for six days for no other reason than that he is a reporter. It is intolerable how openly the Cyber Crimes Act 2015 is being abused to stifle journalists and erode the freedom of the press. #FreeDanielOjukwu Image: 0842iatnDX on Twitter
5 May 2024 EiE Nigeria (@EiENigeria)
At the NUJ Press Freedom and Good Governance Awards in Abuja on Saturday night, Chris Isiguzo, the National President of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), expressed dismay that Ojukwu has not been released despite assurances by Mohammed Idris, the Minister of Information and National Orientation.
“That nothing has been done up until now astounds me,” Isiguzo stated.
“We would like to add our voices to the others arguing for the freedom of the journalist who is in custody. Maintaining him in custody for this long does not, in my opinion, advance press freedom. We just celebrated that past week, thus it’s not nice to consider that a journalist was detained during the festivities.
Whatever the circumstances, the people holding him ought to bring charges against him in court. If not, the NUJ president argued, he ought to be let go right away.
The arrest of @Mazi_OJD of @fijnigeria draws attention to the current increase in security agency harassment of the media.”As journalism is not illegal, @WSoyinkaCentre supports other civil society groups in demanding his immediate release. Pic.twitter.com/alqfoSn2Sn #FreeDanielOjukwu@PremiumTimesng
May 5, 2024, Wole Soyinka Centre (@WSoyinkaCentre)
The international rights organisation Amnesty International also called for Ojukwu’s release, saying that sponsored smear campaigns and arrests of journalists looking into corruption must to stop.
The media and the right to free speech in Nigeria are still under serious danger from sponsored smear campaigns and arrests of journalists who are looking into corruption. We have to end the clampdown. Free Daniel Ojukwu
Posted on May 6, 2024, by Amnesty International Nigeria (@AmnestyNigeria)
Ojukwu’s extended imprisonment was denounced by the Nigerian National Committee of the International Press Institute (IPI Nigeria), which also requested that the IGP order the journalist’s quick release.
“IPI Nigeria demands that Mr. Ojukwu be released immediately and strongly condemns the kidnapping.
“The action of the Nigeria Police Force speaks volumes about the attitude and commitment of law enforcement agencies in Nigeria to the freedom of the press, coming at the time when the world is celebrating the freedom of the press,” the IPI stated in a release.
“In apparent violation of his rights to dignity and expression, the Nigerian military kidnapped journalist Mr. Segun Olatunji in Lagos a few weeks ago and flew him to Abuja under appalling circumstances.
“A pattern has emerged with the two incidents cited above that points to the fact that the administration of President Bola Tinubu does not only condone but also encourage repression of freedom of the press, in contradiction of promises made during the president’s inaugural speech that his administration would uphold fundamental human rights.”
Furthermore, the transparency and accountability group BudgIT called for the journalist’s quick release.
“It is concerning that Daniel Ojukwu’s family only learned of his detention when a private investigator employed by FIJ traced his phone’s last active location to an address in Isheri Olofin, which the police now confirm was the site of his arrest. Daniel’s basic rights are violated by this intolerable lack of accountability and openness by the government.
“Journalists’ arrest for simply carrying out their duties undermines press freedom and the right to freedom of expression, which are enshrined in international human rights instruments,” the group stated in a release.
Call for James Ojukwu’s instant release with us.
Every journalist should be free and every voice should be heard.tweet.com/yu0zT3wk4x #FreeOjukwu
CivicHive May 6, 2024 (@CivicHive)
ActionAid Nigeria, for its part, called the way Ojukwu was detained concerning and said it raised “serious questions about the conduct of law enforcement agencies in Nigeria”.
It added: “We demand transparency, accountability, and respect for the rule of law in this matter.”