By Chinwendu Eugene
Published May 9, 2024.
The Action Group on the Protection of Civic Actors, a Nigerian coalition of media and civil society groups are calling for the immediate release of Daniel Ojukwu, a journalist with the Foundation for Investigative Journalism. The Civil Society Organisations and journalists on Thursday stormed the Force Headquarters in Abuja, demanding his release.
The protesters, include a legal practitioner, Deji Adeyanju; a Pro-democracy activist and presidential candidate of the African Action Congress in the 2023 general elections, Omoyele Sowore; amongst others.
As seen in a now-viral video on X.com Thursday, protesters carried banners with the inscriptions, ‘Free Daniel Ojukwu,’ ‘No to a police state,’ Journalism is not a crime,’ and ‘Stop the impunity.’
Ojukwu went missing on May 1 in Lagos, with his phone numbers turned off, leaving his whereabouts unknown to colleagues, family and friends. He was later detained and held in a police station for allegedly violating the country’s Cybercrime Act, often criticized as a tool for censorship.
The arrest of Ojukwu, who was later moved to the National Cybercrime Centre, in Abuja, on Sunday by the Intelligence Response Team of the Inspector-General of Police, Olukayode Egbetokun, followed his report about alleged financial mismanagement of over 147 million naira ($104,600) involving a senior government official, according to his employer, the foundation.
Addressing journalists at the main entrance of the Force Headquarters in Abuja, spokesperson of the group, Bukky Shonibare said the recent surge in attacks on press freedom and the silencing of dissenting voices is becoming alarming.
She explained that after nine days in detention after forcefully arresting Ojukwu on alleged orders of the Inspector General of Police, the police are duty bound to file charges against him or release him unconditionally.
