After being handcuffed and subjected to excruciating pain in military detention, FirstNews editor Segun Olatunji has said his right leg and hand feel numb.
Olatunji was abducted by armed men who introduced themselves as military officers from his home in Iyana Odo, Abule Egba area of Lagos, on March 15, leaving his family members and colleagues in the dark on Olatunji’s whereabouts and reason for his arrest.
“At one point, one of the officers came and tightened the cuffs on my right hand and leg. I was there groaning in pain, and it was that way for three days. When they released it all, the right side of my body felt numb. As I’m talking to you, I can still feel the numbness in my right hand and leg,” he said.
On Thursday, March 28, the military authorities released the journalist in Abuja, a day after the Nigerian chapter of the IPI announced that the journalist was in the custody of the Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA).
Speaking during a press conference organised by NUJ, NGE, IPI Nigeria in Abuja, Olatunji said he no longer feels safe because the military authorities had been trailing him for two weeks before the arrest and that they know everything about him.
He said; “On March 15, I was at my house in Lagos, watching ‘Journalists’ Hangout’ with my seven-year-old son, when suddenly, soldiers burst into the sitting room.
“I saw my wife and one-year-old son amongst them, crying. I asked what happened, and she said they arrested her from her shop and asked her to take them to where I was.
“I asked an officer, whom I identified as Colonel Lawal if I could know why they were looking for me, and he said no, that they were from the military and they were there to arrest me.
“Immediately, he seized my phones as he had earlier seized my wife’s phones. I said okay, let me go in and dress up since I was only in my boxer shorts; some of them (soldiers) even followed me to my room as I took my shirt and trousers.
“They handcuffed me and put me into the vehicle. At first, I thought they were taking me to the Directorate of Military Intelligence (DMI) in Apapa (Lagos), but then we made a detour to the Air Force Base and straight to the office of the National Air Defense Corps (NADC) where we waited for about three hours. I didn’t know we were waiting for a military aircraft to come pick me up.”
When the military aircraft arrived, he was told to hand over his spectacles to one of the officers and blindfolded, he said.
“They moved me into the aircraft, and we took off; when we landed, they took all my clothes. I was left with my boxer shorts. They also put leg cuffs on me in addition to the handcuffs and put me in a cell,” he said.
After some days in custody, Olatunji was brought to the interrogation room for questioning.
The journalist said one of the officers accused him of being one of the persons insulting the chief of defence intelligence. The editor said he was also accused of terrorism.
“They were asking me about certain stories that FirstNews had carried. One of them told me that I was one of those abusing the chief of defence intelligence. I said “how?”.
“He said we did a story, and I replied that it was a general story. They didn’t say much on that.
“He also asked me about a story we carried about the chief of staff to the president, I think that was the major thing.”
He added that before the military made a move to release him, they searched through his phone to ascertain the sources of his stories and obtained a statement from him.
“On Tuesday, they asked me to write a statement, they went through my phone and checked my source, then they left me in the cell till last night (Wednesday) when they asked me to call someone in Abuja who can guarantee my release,” he said.
“So, I called Mr Yomi Odunuga, a good friend and brother who brought me into journalism some 27 years ago when I joined The Punch.”