The increasing trend of journalists’ abductions under the current democratic government has undeniably become a significant concern for media practitioners. This concern extends beyond reporters and editors to their families and friends, who fear for their loved ones’ safety and freedom.
The abduction of an editor from his residence in Lagos on March 15, 2024, by the military, and the recent incident involving a reporter from a foundation for investigative journalism, who was apprehended by the police on the streets of Lagos, have put media professionals in a precarious situation reminiscent of Nigeria’s junta era.
Despite these incidents, the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, stated that no journalist had been incarcerated under the current administration. He made this statement during a press briefing in Abuja, saying, “I have not seen somebody in the life of this administration, for example, who has been put in jail, or who has gone into exile as a result of press freedom.”
The reporter went missing on Wednesday, May 1, 2024. His numbers were switched off, and his whereabouts were unknown to colleagues, family, and friends. A missing person report was made at police stations in the area where the reporter was headed. However, a private detective tracked the last active location of the journalist’s phones to an address in Isheri Olofin, a location believed to be where the police picked him up.
The reporter’s family later learned of his detention at the State Criminal Investigation Department, Panti, where they were informed that the authorities were accusing him of violating the 2015 Cybercrime Act. His abduction coincided with the day when journalists worldwide marked the World Press Freedom Day.
The reporter was given access to his phone on Sunday following sustained media pressure. He informed his employers that he had been moved to Abuja from Lagos. On Sunday, his employers confirmed a chat with him after four days since he was picked up.
It is unclear what the reporter’s offence is, but it was suspected to have been premised upon a report the embattled journalist did in November 2023. According to the foundation, when the National Cybercrime Centre grilled the chairman of the foundation’s Board of Trustees at their Abuja office in March, they had mentioned a story on how a senior special assistant on Sustainable Development Goals to the president paid a significant amount to an account traced to a restaurant based in Abuja for the construction of a classroom.
The Force Public Relations Officer confirmed that the reporter was in Abuja with the police. When asked about the details of the petition against the reporter, he said, “We will issue a statement on it. I’ve asked the cybercrime unit to brief me.” When asked if the reporter would be charged to court, he said, “It depends. I don’t know. They are the ones investigating the case. From whatever they find, if he is to be charged to court, he will, but it depends on the nature of the offence. But I know there is a petition against him.”
The reporter’s ordeal comes just barely two months after the editor was abducted. He was only released after about two weeks following sustained media pressure. Shortly after his release, the editor vividly described his ordeal in the hands of the military at a press conference in Abuja organised by prominent media unions.
On April 29, the editor alleged that a defence agency had planned to tarnish his image and spread lies against him using an obscure online news website. An online report claimed that the editor had admitted to being contracted to write a false report against the Chief of Staff to the President and that he had also apologised in writing over the report.
But the editor, while refuting this in a statement, described the report as tales by the moonlight. He said the defence agency should be bold enough to tell Nigerians where such an “emergency press conference” occurred and when. “They should also mention the various media organisations that covered their imaginary press conference,” he added. He further narrated his ordeal during his detention, saying, “Gentlemen, I’m still struggling to recover from the trauma of my abduction and illegal detention in the underground cell for those 14 hellish days.”
