In a protest, concerned citizens and journalists descended upon the Nigeria Police Force Headquarters in Abuja, demanding the immediate release of Foundation for Investigative Journalism journalist Daniel Ojukwu.
On May 1, Ojukwu was kidnapped by the police in secret from Lagos, and three days later, he was moved to Abuja.
The continuous detention of Ojukwu for ten days and the police leadership’s silence on the subject were the catalysts for the current protests at the NPF headquarters in Abuja.
Prominent Nigerians are spearheading the protest at the police complex’s entrance, including Omoyele Sowore, Bukola Shonibare, and other media professionals. They are also human rights activists and organizers of the #RevolutionNow movement.
According to a report in The Hotline magazine, Ojukwu was secretly “abducted” by Nigerian police on May 1. While he was being held at the State Criminal Investigation Department in Panti, Lagos, his phone lines were cut.
On May 2, the FIJ filed a missing person’s report with the police. However, neither the media organization nor the reporter’s relative were aware of his whereabouts until it hired a private investigator to locate his last known location on his phone.
Ojukwu was not allowed to have access to his phones until after his detention from May 1 to May 5.
The Intelligence Response Team then moved him to Abuja, where he was held in a cell at the Nigeria Police Force National Cybercrime Centre before being taken to the FCID.
During this time, the media outlet found that the reporter had been arrested for breaking the Cyber-Crime Act of 2015, but the Nigeria Police Force had not commented on the incident.
However, Muyiwa Adejobi, the police spokesperson, alluded to the possibility that the reporter’s detention was related to a formal petition.
October 2023: According to Ojukwu’s report, Enseno Global Ventures, an Abuja-based restaurant, received N147.1 million from the then-Senior Special Assistant on Sustainable Development Goals to the President, Adejoke Orelope-Adefulire, for the construction of classrooms.
The FIJ republished the investigation on Sunday, stating that it believed the aforementioned report was the cause of his detention.
Based on the alleged breach of the Cybercrime Act by Ojukwu, Fisayo Soyombo, the Founder and Publisher of FIH, had stated that the investigation represented the facts rather than just conjecture.
In addition, Soyombo questioned the validity of his “arrest,” pointing out that the organization was not invited, at least not specifically on this issue.
He chastised the Nigeria Police for their lack of response, maintaining that their agents had kidnapped the journalist rather than arrested him.
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