THE Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has urged the Nigerian police to immediately drop its criminal investigation against the International Centre for Investigative Reporting (ICIR) and its journalist, Nurudeen Akewushola.
The Committee in a statement dated Friday, May 31, said the police should allow the news platform to perform its constitutional mandate without harassment.
“Nigerian police should immediately end the criminal investigation of journalist Nurudeen Akewushola over his reporting, drop any plans to charge him or his colleagues, and cease harassing the International Centre for Investigative Reporting,” said the head of CPJ Africa programme, Angela Quintal, from Durban, South Africa.
“It seems that despite reforms to Nigeria’s Cybercrimes Act, police continue to use it as a tool to summon and harass the press, even without bringing charges,” Quintal said further.
On May 28, The ICIR reported how the officers of the Nigeria Police Force-National Cybercrime Center (NPF-NCCC) detained Akewushola and the organisation’s Executive Director, Dayo Aiyetan for nine hours over an investigation which exposed the corrupt practices of two former Inspectors-General of Police.
Both Akewushola and Aiyetan were at the cybercrime centre having received two separate invitations from the police on alleged cyberstalking and defamation.
Although The ICIR raised concerns over the first invitation which was dated April 16, 2024, the police insisted on questioning the journalists.
Consequently, on May 15, The ICIR received another invitation from the police, a copy of which CPJ said it reviewed.
Both journalists honoured the invitation and were accompanied by the organisation’s lawyer, Saidu Muhammad Lawal.
“Akewushola and Aiyetan told CPJ that police questioned them about a February 2024 report authored by Akewushola and published by ICIR that alleged two former Nigeria inspector generals of police, Solomon Ehigiator Arase and Ibrahim Kpotum Idris, were involved in illegal land sales. During police questioning, Aiyetan, Akewushola, and Lawal said that officers showed them a criminal complaint filed by Corpran International Limited, one of the land developers mentioned in the ICIR report. Akewushola also said the complainant accused him of seeking a bribe when he called for comments before publishing the report, an allegation the journalist described as a blatant falsehood.
“Additionally, days after the publication, Arase wrote a letter to ICIR, which CPJ reviewed, describing the report as false and demanding a retraction of the story and compensation of one billion naira ($714,647 USD). He also filed a civil suit against ICIR alleging defamation of character,” the statement read.
Corpran Int’l calls CPJ journalist stupid
Meanwhile, CPJ disclosed that its reporter was called ‘stupid’ when she reached out to Corpran International Limited owner Andy Chime on the phone on Wednesday, May 29, while also confirming that he filed a complaint with police over cyberstalking and defamation of character.
Chime called the reporter “stupid” for requesting clarity on the allegation of cyberstalking mentioned in his complaint, before ending the call.
CPJ further noted that when it contacted Arase on May 17, after the first invitation, he confirmed he had filed a civil case against The ICIR and declined to comment about a possible police complaint filing.
“On the same day, when CPJ contacted the director of the NPF-NCCC, Henry Ifeanyi, he declined to discuss details of the case that caused the summons and said he was not aware of any laws preventing the police from inviting Nigerians for questioning. Reached by phone on May 28 while Akewushola and Aiyetan were at the station, Ifeanyi said ‘I don’t have any journalists detained’ and declined to comment further, referring CPJ to the police’s public relations office.
“When contacted on May 28, police force public relations officer Muyiwa Adejebi said he would contact the Cybercrime Center for details of the police invitation and investigation. On Wednesday, Adejobi told CPJ that he could not give the details of any possible charge against Akewushola but added that if the investigators decided to charge him, it would relate to Akewushola’s work as a journalist,” the statement added.
Backstory
The police, through the National Cybercrime Centre, delivered a letter of invitation to The ICIR office in Abuja on Wednesday, May 15, 2024.
The letter, dated April 16, requested the reporter and the organisation’s managers to report to the centre on Wednesday, April 24, 2024, three weeks before the letters were delivered to The ICIR by the Police.
Part of the letter reads, “The Nigeria Police Force National Cybercrime Centre is investigating a case of cyberstalking and defamation of character in which the above-named person featured prominently.
‘In view of the above, you are requested to interview the Director of the Nigeria Police Force National Cybercrime Centre (NPF-NCCC) plot 625 Mission Road, Diplomatic Zone, Central Business District, Abuja through CSP Omaka Udodinma Chukwu on Wednesday 24th April 2024. Call 08067854241 on your arrival. Your cooperation in this regard will be highly appreciated, please.”
One of the concerns raised by the organisation was the delivery of the invitation letter three weeks after Akewushola and the ‘managers’ were expected to have shown up at the Cybercrime Centre.
There were no details of the petition which led to the investigations for cyberstalking and defamation of character, as this would have helped the invitees to better prepare for the interview with the Police.
The ICIR perceived the invitation as part of the growing trend of a crackdown on journalists by security operatives using the Cybercrimes Act, despite a recent amendment of the legislation following public outcry that it was being manipulated to stifle free speech and harass journalists.
The media organisation, therefore, requested that a new letter be provided by the Police addressing the concerns raised.
“As a law-abiding organisation that holds power to account, we are always willing to submit to accountability and would honour lawful invitations from law enforcement agencies but we have written to the Police to provide details of the petition against The ICIR and its reporter and write a new invitation letter before we honour the invitation,” the statement concluded.
The police sent another letter of invitation, though it failed to provide details of the invitation. The ICIR Executive Director, Dayo Aiyetan, the reporter and the organisation’s lawyer were at the centre on Tuesday, 28 May, 20
Summary of investigation that exposed two former IGPs, other police chiefs
The report revealed that two former Inspectors-General of Police, Ibrahim Idris and Solomon Arase, currently the chairman of the Police Service Commission (PSC), were accused of receiving N200 million each and a house allocation as incentives for awarding an estate development contract to Corpran International Limited for land originally meant to be used as police barracks.
A former staff member of Corpran International Limited Kalu O. Kalu and a lawyer Francis Mgboh accused both former IGPs of unlawfully approving the contract for the development of the land, which belongs to the Police, without adequate scrutiny, after receiving the bribe.
The allegations currently form a part of ongoing litigation at the Federal High Court in Abuja, and documents obtained by The ICIR, including court affidavits, showed that many other top police officials were also bribed to facilitate the approval of the contract.
Arase, abusing the office he currently occupies, had released a statement through the PSC spokesperson Ikechukwu Ani on Friday, May 17, 2024, saying he had sued three ICIR staff members, including the reporter Akewushola, Executive Director of The ICIR, Dayo Aiyetan, and The ICIR Editor, Victoria Bamas, over the report.
Journalists remain state targets in Nigeria
Despite the constitutional mandate given to journalists to hold the government and its agencies to account, laws such as the Cybercrimes Act have been used to intimidate journalists and stifle press freedom.
Corrupt officeholders and other persons with questionable wealth use state security to harrass journalists who expose sleazes.
On Wednesday, May 1, a journalist with the Foundation for Investigative Journalism (FIJ) Daniel Ojukwu was abducted by officials of the Nigerian Police and detained at the NPF-NCCC for ten days.
Before his abduction, former editor of First News Segun Olatunji was also abducted and detained for nearly two weeks by operatives of the Nigerian military before being released.
Attacks and harassment of journalists have remained a matter of concern in the country and in 2023 alone, four reporters with The ICIR were harassed by state and non-state actors in the line of duty.
Usman Mustapha is a solution journalist with International Centre for Investigative Reporting. You can easily reach him via: [email protected]. He tweets @UsmanMustapha_M