At a time the international community is harping on the need for press freedoms and respect for the rights of journalists, the Nigeria Police has attempted to justify its widely condemned detention of a journalist. The latest in the consistent wave of attacks on journalists is the arbitrary arrest and detention without trial of Foundation for Investigative Journalism (FIJ) journalist, Daniel Ojukwu. The Nigeria Police Force (NPF) confirmed that Ojukwu was arrested by the national cybercrime centre in Abuja.
The NPF national cybercrime centre is the police unit established to combat cybercrimes in the country. Ojukwu has been in custody since May 1 after what human rights and press freedom groups have described as his “abduction” by police officers in Lagos.
The family of the journalist and FIJ management were initially not aware of his whereabouts until 48 hours after he was declared missing. The Explainer learnt that similar to recent cases, the journalist was not allowed to communicate with his family members and friends as his mobile gadgets were seized.
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On Saturday, Ridwan Oke, a human rights lawyer, said Ojukwu requires medical attention. Giving an update to journalists on Sunday, Muyiwa Adejobi, force spokesperson, said Ojukwu has a case to answer. The police spokesperson did not however not address concerns as to why Ojukwu was being detained for several days with apparently no court order to justify the arbitrary detention. Adejobi only said a petition was filed against the journalist.
His words: “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,” the force spokesperson said.
“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.”
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Adejobi said the force headquarters will soon address the matter “to clear the grey areas”.
In a post published on X, Oke, the lawyer working for the release Ojukwu, said the journalist has been taken to Abuja by the police.
“I can confirm that Daniel was moved to Abuja early this morning. He was allowed to make call and he just spoke with me. He’s currently being held at the “Threat Response Unit of the NPF National Cybercrime Centre”, Abuja. @PoliceNG, nothing must happen to him!,” the lawyer wrote.
