Demonstrators have rallied at the police headquarters in Abuja, calling for the release of Daniel Ojukwu, a reporter for the Foundation for Investigative Journalism, who has been detained over a story.
Among the protesters were activist and Sahara Reporters publisher, Omoyele Sowore, as well as rights activist and lawyer, Deji Adeyanju.
Chanting “another challenge o, another challenge o,” the protesters carried banners bearing the #FreeDanielOjukwu slogan.
This Thursday marked over a week since Mr. Ojukwu’s secretive arrest and detention by the police. Confirmation of his custody came from the police on Sunday, five days after his sudden disappearance.
He said, “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,” police spokesperson Muyiwa Adejobi told journalists on Sunday. 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.’’
Over a week after Mr Ojukwu was arrested, the police have failed to charge him to court while denying the journalist access to his employer and lawyer.
“They’re deliberately keeping him,” Fisayo Soyombo, FIJ’s publisher, told The Gazette, adding that the police “are determined not to release him.”
“They haven’t charged him to court. They haven’t even grilled him; they just dumped him in a cell. They are denying lawyers access to him as well.”
Mr Adejobi did not pick up calls when The Gazette reached him to ask why the police failed to charge the journalist in court. A text message sent to Mr Adejobi has not been replied as at the time of this report.
The Committee to Protect Journalists said on Wednesday that the Nigerian authorities should immediately release Mr Ojukwu and stop intimidating and arresting members of the press who investigate the government’s spending of public funds.
Amnesty International also condemned President Bola Tinubu-led government over the arrest and prolonged detention of Mr Ojukwu.
The human rights organisation, in a tweet on Wednesday, lamented the prolonged detention of Mr Ojukwu, condemning the Nigerian authorities for punishing journalists for exposing corruption.
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