Omoyele Sowore, an activist for democracy and the African Action Congress’ presidential candidate for the general elections of 2023, has criticized the “unjust” detention of Daniel Ojukwu, a reporter with the Foundation for Investigative Journalism.

Sowore bemoaned the Nigerian Police’s unwillingness to grant Ojucku’s release, even though he fulfilled all the requirements for bond.

He said that he had traveled to Abuja with his team in order to free the reporter from police custody.

“We’ve spent the last two days in Abuja to get Daniel Ojukwu of @fijnigeria bailed out from unjust incarceration, meeting police officers in their offices,” the activist wrote on X on Tuesday.

According to him, there is a breakdown in the police force’s command structure, and certain junior officers with powerful connections wield significant power that exceeds that of their superiors.

In spite of the fallout from the #ENDSARS movement, he also expressed displeasure in the police force’s seeming resistance to reform.

Along with these accusations, Sowore said that the government was ignoring the law, going backwards, and putting loyalty to the political class ahead of protecting the rights of Nigerians.

He wrote, “A few things are clear, there is a breakdown in the @PoliceNG command structure; we met junior officers who are more potent and powerful than their bosses based on their connections; also, we noted that the @policeng is not interested in reforms

“#Endsars scarred them but they are rolling back the gains more fiercely than ever, even when they’re clearly breaking the laws of the land, they’d rather die for crumbs from the corrupt political class than honour the rights of Nigerians.”

The protester further charged that the police were attempting to manipulate media narratives.

Senior officials reportedly told them that Ojukwu’s release was being hampered by the Inspector General of Police and his allies, he continued.

“Finally, they hate serious journalism with passion and are hell-bent on creating a media landscape that dances to their whims and caprices.

“After two days of being tossed around, senior officers told us the IGP and his boys wouldn’t let us release this boy, Daniel, that was after a surety we provided had met their bail conditions. #RevolutionNow,” he added.

According to reports, Ojukwu was captured by members of the Inspector General of Police’s Intelligence Response Team.

It was said that he went missing on Wednesday of last week, leaving coworkers, family, and friends unsure of his whereabouts and making him unavailable due to his switched off phones.

But this caused FIJ to report Ojukwu missing to the local police stations in his vicinity.

Later, his family became aware of his arrest at the State Criminal Investigation Department in Panti, Lagos, and realized he was being held on suspicion of breaking the 2015 Cybercrime Act, according to the authorities.

According to a family member who paid him a visit, the authorities declined to give FIJ the Investigating Police Officer’s contact information because the case was outside of Lagos and they had jurisdictional concerns.

In the meantime, Ojukwu, who was taken up on Wednesday, May 1, 2024, was sent to the NPF-NCC Center in Abuja on Sunday, according to confirmation provided by Force Public Relations Officer Muyiwa Adejobi on Monday.

Although they withheld the specifics of the petition, the police stated that they had received a petition against the journalist.

However, FIJ revealed on Monday that Ojukwu’s police kidnapping was the result of a petition started by a Senior Advocate of Nigeria.