Journalists and people who care have gathered at the Nigeria Police Force Headquarters in Abuja to protest and demand the quick release of Daniel Ojukwu, a journalist with the Foundation for Investigative Journalism.
Ojukwu was secretly taken by the police in Lagos on May 1 and moved to Abuja around three days later.
The ongoing protest at the NPF headquarters in Abuja is because Ojukwu has been held for 10 days and the police leadership has not addressed the situation.
Well-known Nigerians including human rights activists and leaders of the #RevolutionNow movement Omoyele Sowore, Bukola Shonibare, and other media professionals are leading the protest at the entrance of the police complex.
The PUNCH had reported that on May 1, the Nigerian police secretly took Ojukwu; his phone lines were turned 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 only found out his location after hiring a private detective to track the reporter’s last active location on his phone.
Ojukwu was in detention from May 1 to May 5 before being allowed access to his phones.
He was then moved by the Intelligence Response Team to Abuja, where he was detained in a cell at the Nigeria Police Force National Cybercrime Centre, and then later to the FCID.
During this time, the media organization found out that the reporter was picked up for breaking the Cyber-Crime Act of 2015, while the police remained silent.
But the police spokesperson, Muyiwa Adejobi, indicated that his detention was linked to a written complaint 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 connected to Enseno Global Ventures, an Abuja-based restaurant, for the construction of classrooms.
The FIJ suspected that the above report was the reason for his detention, so they republished the investigation on Sunday.
The Founder and Publisher of FIH, Fisayo Soyombo, stated that the investigation was based on facts and not just allegations, regarding the violation of the Cybercrime Act for which Ojukwu is being accused.
Soyombo also questioned the way of his ‘arrest’, noting that the organization was not invited, particularly concerning this matter.
He criticized the Nigeria Police for not speaking about the matter, and insisted that its officers had taken Ojukwu, not arrested him.
