PROTESTERS STORM POLICE HEADQUARTERS, DEMAND RELEASE OF JOURNALIST OJUKWU

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Journalists and concerned citizens have stormed the Nigeria Police Force Headquarters, Abuja, in a protest, demanding the immediate release of Daniel Ojukwu, a journalist with the Foundation for Investigative Journalism.

On May 1, Ojukwu was kidnapped by the police in secret from Lagos, and three days later, he was moved to Abuja.

The continuous imprisonment 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 demonstration at the police complex’s gate, including Omoyele Sowore, Bukola Shonibare, and other media professionals. They are also human rights advocates and organizers of the #RevolutionNow movement.

It was reported that on May 1, operatives of the Nigerian police clandestinely “abducted” Ojukwu; his phone lines were switched off while he was detained at the State Criminal Investigation Department, Panti, Lagos.

The FIJ reported a missing person to the police on May 2, and until it hired a private detective to track the reporter’s last active location on his phone, both the media organisation and his relative did not get wind of his whereabouts.

Ojukwu remained in detention from May 1 to May 5, before being given access to his phones.

He was subsequently transferred by the Intelligence Response Team to Abuja, where he was detained in a cell at the Nigeria Police Force National Cybercrime Centre, and later to the FCID.

The media organisation during this period, discovered the reporter was picked up for violating the Cyber-Crime Act of 2015, while the Nigeria Police Force remained mum on the matter.

However, the spokesperson of the police, Muyiwa Adejobi hinted that his detention was connected to a written petition against the reporter.

In October 2023, Ojukwu reported how the then Senior Special Assistant on Sustainable Development Goals to the President, Adejoke Orelope-Adefulire paid N147.1 million to an account traced to Enseno Global Ventures, an Abuja-based restaurant, for the construction of classrooms.

The FIJ said it suspected the above report was the reason for his detention, hence, republished the investigation on Sunday.

The Founder and Publisher of FIH, Fisayo Soyombo, had said the investigation was a representation of the facts and not mere allegations, based on the violation of the Cybercrime Act for which Ojukwu is being accused.

Soyombo also questioned the matter of his ‘arrest’, noting that no invitation was extended to the organisation, particularly on this matter.