Nigerian police speak on detained journalist, relocate him

The Nigerian Police Force (NPF) on Sunday moved detained journalist Daniel Ojukwu to the Nigerian Police Force National Cybercrime Centre (NPF-NCCC) in Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

Mr Ojukwu, a journalist with the Foundation for Investigative Journalism (FIJ), has been incommunicado at the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID), Panti, in Lagos since Wednesday.

Reporter makes first phone call

However, Mr Ojukwu, in his first communication with the outside world since he was detained on Wednesday, confirmed he had been moved to Abuja.

“I’m currently in Abuja; I am at the NPF-NCCC – that’s the Nigeria Police Force National Cybercrime Centre,” FIJ quoted Mr Ojukwu saying on Sunday morning.

Mr Ojukwu said he arrived in Abuja on Sunday morning and has been taken to a cell for interrogation.

Mr Ojukwu’s abduction

PREMIUM TIMES reported that Mr Ojukwu went missing on Wednesday with his phone numbers switched off and whereabouts unknown to colleagues, family and friends. On Thursday, FIJ made a missing person report at police stations in the area where he was headed. On Friday, a private detective hired by FIJ tracked the reporter’s phone’s last active location to an address in Isheri Olofin, Lagos.

In March, the same NPF-NCCC invited and grilled the Chairperson of FIJ’s Board of Trustees, Bukky Shonibare, in Abuja, during which they mentioned a story authored by Mr Ojukwu. The story revealed that the senior special assistant to former president Muhammad Buhari on sustainable development goals (SSAP-SDGs), Adejoke Orelope-Adefulire, paid N147 million to a restaurant for the construction of classrooms in Lagos.

Except for Ms Shonibare, the police never invited Mr Ojukwu or any other FIJ staff, FIJ Founder Fisayo Soyombo told PREMIUM TIMES on Saturday. Meanwhile, Ms Shonibare honoured the police invitation when she was invited.

Police speak

The spokesperson for the Nigerian Police Force, Muyiwa Adejobi, said on Sunday that the reporter was arrested by the Intelligence Response Team (IRT) of the Inspector General of Police based on a petition written against him, TheCable reported.

Mr Adejobi noted that the head of the NPF-NCCC centre confirmed to him that Mr Ojukwu was accused of violating the Cybercrime Prohibition Act 2015. The Cybercrime Act is a known law used to persecute journalists and media houses in Nigeria, as well as some sections of the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) for broadcast stations.

“It has been confirmed that the journalist, Daniel Ojukwu, was arrested by the Nigeria Police National Cybercrime Centre, Abuja, based on a petition filed against him.

“It’s a case of violation of the Cybercrime Prohibition Act 2015 and other extant laws of the land. He has a case to answer. This was confirmed to me on Sunday by the CP and head of the centre,” Mr Adejobi said.

Journalists, CSOs call for journalist’s release

Meanwhile, the Nigerian National Committee of the International Press Institute (IPI Nigeria) has asked the Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, to immediately order the release of Mr Ojukwu or risk being blacklisted.

“IPI NIGERIA strongly condemns the abduction and calls on the Inspector General of Police to, with immediate effect, order the release of Mr Ojukwu,” a statement jointly signed by the IPI Nigeria President, Musikilu Mojeed, and Legal Adviser, Tobi Soniyi, said.

IPI Nigeria said the recent abduction of another journalist, Segun Olatunji, and Mr Ojukwu had pointed to a pattern that the current administration of the Nigerian government does not respect the freedom of the press.

“With the two incidents cited above, a pattern has emerged that points to the fact that the administration of President Bola Tinubu does not only condone repression of freedom of the press but also encourage it, in contradiction of promises made during the president’s inaugural speech that his administration would uphold fundamental human rights,” the statement reads in part.

“IPI Nigeria calls on President Tinubu to sanction the Inspector General of the Police, having failed to lead by example. Nobody is above the law.”

It also threatened to include the Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, in IPI Nigeria’s book of infamy and branded him an enemy of the media and journalists. “His inclusion on the list carries serious consequences beyond the shores of Nigeria,” the statement added.

Nigerian journalists and civil society organisations, including Amnesty International and Yiaga Africa, among others, have taken to social media to call for Mr Ojukwu’s release.

The state of press freedom in Nigeria

Nigeria remains one of West Africa’s most dangerous and difficult countries for journalists, according to the Reporters Without Borders (RSF), which ranked Nigeria 123 of 180 countries in its global press freedom report for 2023.

The report noted that Nigerian journalists are regularly monitored, attacked and arbitrarily arrested, and “crimes committed against journalists continue to go unpunished, even when the perpetrators are known or apprehended.”

Earlier on Friday, the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (ERAP) and the Nigerian Guild of Editors, in commemoration of the World Press Freedom Day, asked Nigerian authorities to stop using “repressive and anti-media law such as the Cybercrime Act and some code of the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC)” to target, intimidate and harass journalists and media houses.

Qosim Suleiman is a reporter at Premium Times in partnership with Report for the World, which matches local newsrooms with talented emerging journalists to report on under-covered issues around the globe