OPERATIVES of the State State Service (SSS) have arrested an investigative journalist, Adejuwon Soyinka.
A concerned friend of Soyinka said he sent a distress message, stating that he was taken into custody shortly after he arrived from the United Kingdom, without being informed of the reason for his arrest, and has since been held in isolation without access to communication.
Adejuwon Soyinka, the regional editor of The Conversation Africa, was taken into custody at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos on Sunday.
The message sent reads “Adejuwon Soyinka has been detained by officers of the Department of State Security at the Muritala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos.
“The incident happened around 5.40 am on Sunday, the 25th of August, 2024, shortly after he arrived in Nigeria via a Virgin Atlantic flight from the United Kingdom.”
At the time of filing this report, no explanation had been provided by the security agency for Soyinka’s detention.
Additionally, it was said that Soyinka had not been contactable, as attempts to reach him via phone calls and messages had gone unanswered.
The spokesperson of the SSS, Peter Afunanya in a WhatsApp chat denied knowledge of the arrest.
However, an attempt to get more clarification from Afunanya yielded no result as he did not pick up his call nor respond to messages sent to his phone.
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.
Recall that on Saturday, August 24 the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) confirmed the arrest of a whistleblower Bristol Tamunobiefiri, also known as PIDOM.
This was disclosed in a statement by the Force public relations officer, Olumuyiwa Adejobi.
According to the statement, PIDOM was arrested on August 5, 2024, in his hotel room in Rivers State by operatives of the National Cybercrime Centre (NPF-NCCC).
Adejobi stated that the PIDOM was taken into custody due to accusations of “committing serious offences that undermine the integrity of government operations”.
He further alleged that multiple allegations had been made against the suspect, including unlawful possession, unauthorised disclosure of classified documents, cyber-related offences, and other charges
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.
Meanwhile, in 2024, the NPF-NCCC in Abuja invited and detained The ICIR’s executive director, Dayo Aiyetan, and reporter, Nurudeen Akewushola, over an investigation of sleazes in which its former Inspector-Generals were complicit.
The ICIR reported that a reporter Daniel Ojukwu was abducted by officials of the Intelligence Response Team (IRT) of the Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Kayode Egbetokun on Wednesday, May 1, two days before World Press Freedom Day.
His abduction only became known on Friday, May 3, after spending four days with the police in Lagos State.
On the orders of the IGP, Ojukwu was transferred by the IRT to the Nigeria Police Force National Cybercrime Centre (NPF-NCCC) in Abuja in the early hours of Sunday, May 5.
He was later released ten days later.
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