Protesting journalists and concerned people have occupied the Nigeria Police Force Headquarters in Abuja, calling for the immediate release of Foundation for Investigative Journalism journalist Daniel Ojukwu.
On May 1, Ojukwu was abducted by the police in secret from Lagos and taken to Abuja about three days later.
Following Ojukwu’s ten-day continuous imprisonment and the police leadership’s silence on the subject, there is currently a demonstration taking place at the NPF headquarters in Abuja.
Leading the demonstration at the police complex’s entrance are well-known Nigerians, such as Omoyele Sowore, Bukola Shonibare, and other media professionals, who are also human rights advocates and organizers of the #RevolutionNow movement.
Ojukwu was secretly “abducted” by Nigerian police officers, and while he was being held in the State Criminal Investigation Department in Panti, Lagos, his phone connections 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 engaged 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 incarceration 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 imprisonment 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 probe on Sunday, stating that it believed the aforementioned report was the cause of his imprisonment.
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 slammed the Nigeria Police for their lack of response, maintaining that their agents had kidnapped rather than detained the journalists.
