THE Nigeria Police Force (NPF) has named a journalist, David Hundeyin, as an accomplice in an alleged criminal conspiracy involving seditious activities and the leakage of classified documents against a whistleblower Isaac Bristol.
The force also fingered one Michael Temidayo Alade in connection with these crimes.
In a statement on Tuesday, September 3, the force spokesperson, Olumuyiwa Adejobi, said the investigation began following a complaint from the office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (OSGF).
The police claimed Bristol has for years operated @PIDOMNigeria, an X account, to leak classified documents, which they said violates the Official Secret Act (OSA).
Adejobi said the complaint alleged that an anonymous blogger, using the X handle @pidomnigeria, published and distributed a sensitive document labeled “restricted” that pertained to national security.
The ICIR Tuesday, reported that a federal high court sitting in Abuja sent Bristol to Kuje prison.
The Nigeria police arraigned PIDOM over money laundering, cybercrime, and unlawfully obtaining, retaining, and disseminating classified official secret documents.
After entering a not-guilty plea to the nine-count charge, the presiding judge, Nwite subsequently adjourned the case to September 23, 2024, for the bail application ruling and ordered his remand at the Kuje correctional centre.
Recall that PIDOM was arrested on August 5, 2024, in his hotel room in Port-Harcourt, Rivers State.
According to a report by Foundation for Investigative Journalism, Bristol was kept in chains and starved for at least six days in a detention facility in Rivers before being relocated to the FCID.
But Bristol wouldn’t be charged to court until 26 days after his abduction.
Meanwhile, the NPF, in a statement, claimed investigation identified Michael Temidayo Alade, and David Hundeyin as key suspects in the case.
“A discreet investigation was initiated to identify those responsible for the leakage, which led to the identification of Bristol Isaac Tamunobifiri, Michael Temidayo Alade, and David Hundeyin, as suspects in connection with the alleged crimes.
“The principal suspect, Bristol Isaac Tamunobifiri was apprehended at a hotel in Port Harcourt on Saturday, August 5, 2024, by NPF-NCCC detectives, and in an attempt to resist arrest, the suspect locked himself in a hotel room, smashed his phone, and flushed it down the toilet in an effort to destroy evidence.
“He also refused to surrender his phone’s password, claiming he had forgotten it, thereby concealing information.
“Subsequent investigations, after his arrest, revealed several suspicious activities between the principal suspect and his accomplices. Investigations also revealed that the suspect was responsible for leaking a sensitive restricted document generated from the office of the President to the Secretary of the Government of the Federation,” the statement read.
The police noted that subsequent investigations, after Bristol’s arrest, revealed several suspicious activities between the principal suspect and his accomplices.
Hundeyin has been at the forefront to protest against the arrest and the prosecution of Bristol.
In one of his his posts, sharing the charges filed against Bristol, Hundeyin wrote, “I cannot stress how unprecedented this is, even for the Wild West that is Nigeria.
“A government that claims to be “democratically elected” is seeking the death penalty to punish people for exercising constitutionally guaranteed freedom of expression, association, and movement.”
The ICIR reports that attacks and harassment of journalists and other citizens by security operatives especially the police using the NPF-NCCC have remained a great concern in Nigeria.
The ICIR reported in December 2023 how security agents abused their power and flouted the Nigerian Constitution by harassing 39 journalists in the line of duty, nationwide.
Four reporters with The ICIR were harassed by state actors in the line of duty that year.
Usman Mustapha is a solution journalist with International Centre for Investigative Reporting. You can easily reach him via: [email protected]. He tweets @UsmanMustapha_M