26.5 C
Abuja

Police arrest, detain Premium Times reporter for failing to disclose source

Advertisement

Related

Advertisement
Advertisement

SAMUEL Ogundipe, an investigative reporter with Premium Times has been arrested and detained by men of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) of the Nigeria Police Force.

Asides Ogundipe, Premium Times’ editor-in-chief, Musikilu Mojeed, as well as the paper’s education correspondent, Azeezat Adedigba, were also briefly detained and manhandled by the police at the SARS headquarters in Abuja. Adedigba was later released after about three hours of detention.

Mojeed and Ogundipe were driven from the SARS headquarters in Abuja to the IGP Monitoring Unit at Force Headquarters where the latter was made to write a statement.

They repeatedly asked the journalist to disclose his source for a story he wrote which revealed a letter written by the Inspector General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, to Acting President Yemi Osinbajo on last week’s siege to the National Assembly by security officials.

According to Mojeed, who was later released, the deputy commissioner of police that ordered Ogundipe’s arrest insisted that he would remain in custody “unless he discloses those who gave him the document”.

OGUNDIPE’S ACCOUNT FROZEN

Premium Times reports that as part of moves to further traumatise Ogundipe, his bank account was frozen.

“One of the police officers handling the investigation,  Emmanuel Onyeneho, an inspector, was heard saying they had to freeze the account to incapacitate the reporter,” the paper reported.

Apart from asking the reporter to disclose his source, the police also accused him of doing only negative stories about the police.

Onyeneho told Ogundipe that they believe the journalist had written more negative stories than positive stories about the police and they considered that a crime.

The ICIR tried to contact the Force Public Relations Officer, Jimoh Moshood, but several calls to his phone went unanswered. On some occasions the call will show “line busy” after ringing briefly, signifying that the user was dropping the call deliberately.

Support the ICIR

We invite you to support us to continue the work we do.

Your support will strengthen journalism in Nigeria and help sustain our democracy.

[molongui_author_box]

If you or someone you know has a lead, tip or personal experience about this report, our WhatsApp line is open and confidential for a conversation

Advertisement

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Support the ICIR

We need your support to produce excellent journalism at all times.

Advertisement

Recent

CIBN urges bank auditors to use technology to prevent emerging risks

THE Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN) has called on internal auditors of...

FEMA to assess FCT flood-prone communities

THE Federal Capital Territory Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has said it will assess flood...

FCT Police arrests man for defiling 10-year-old

THE Police Command in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) has arrested a resident of...

NDLEA intercepts Asian-bound cocaine, meth at Lagos airport

THE National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested a businessman, Molokwu Nwachukwu, for...

Reuters report: Army denies involvement in illegal abortions before investigative panel

THE Nigerian Army has refuted allegations that it forcefully aborted about 10,000 pregnancies in...
Advertisement

Most Read

Advertisement

Subscribe to our newsletter

Advertisement