Special Features
Abduction Of Harmless Journalists: A Tragic Return To Military Rule Tactics
On May 29, 1999, Nigeria heralded a new dawn of democracy and waved goodbye to military rule—or so we thought.
The abduction—it was an abduction, period—of Daniel Ojukwu, the reporter with the Foundation for Investigative Journalism (FIJ), is a painful return to the cruel and classless military rule tactics of cracking down on dissent and journalists simply doing their job.
EDITOR’S PICKS
As the Washington Post’s slogan reads, “Democracy dies in darkness.” A “democracy” where journalists cannot freely report on government corruption is no democracy.
With Nigeria set to celebrate its 25th year of uninterrupted “democracy” in about three weeks, the country is forced to face its dark history of crackdown on the free press—a hallmark of democracy.
OJUKWU’S ABDUCTION
On Friday, May 1, 2024, which was incidentally World Press Day, reports emerged that the police had picked up Mr. Ojukwu of FIJ without warning.
Disturbingly, the journalist had been missing for two days, leaving his family and friends worried over his disappearance. It took a frantic search by his family for them to discover, two days later, that he was being held at the State Criminal Investigation Department (IRT).
Armed police officers
In case that was not clear enough: The police picked up a journalist—without any history of violent crime—like common kidnappers. Mr. Daniel Ojukwu was not allowed a single phone call to his family or access to his lawyer.
Before the police abducted the journalist, there was no attempt to invite him. That is definitely not how things work in a democracy.
ALLEGATIONS AGAINST MR. OJUKWU
Following Mr. Ojukwu’s arrest, it has been confirmed that the Intelligence Response Team (IRT) of the Inspector General of Police picked him up for allegedly violating the controversial Cybercrime Act of 2015.
Muiz Banire
The police detained the journalist based on a petition written by Muiz Banire, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), who served as a commissioner under President Bola Tinubu when he was the Governor of Lagos State.
Banire’s petition concerns the reporter’s report of alleged financial mismanagement in the office of Adejoke Orelope-Adefulire, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Sustainable Development Goals (SSAP-SDGs).
The report detailed how Orelope-Adefulire, with two weeks left of former President Muhammadu Buhari’s tenure, sent N147.1 million to the account of a restaurant for the construction of classrooms and a skill acquisition centre. The same restaurant has reportedly posed as an engineering company to take N367.46 million from the government.
That does seem like some information the public should know. If a public servant has approved a construction project for a restaurant—not a construction company—taxpayers deserve to have that information. Mr. Ojukwu was simply being a journalist, not a criminal, who deserved to be abducted in Gestapo fashion.
Interestingly, FIJ phoned Nkiru Ezekwesili, owner of Eseno Global Ventures (Enseno GV), the Abuja-based restaurant, in October 2023, seeking comments on the project. But Ezekwesili denied any knowledge of the project. That surely seems suspicious and something any journalist who serves the public good would shine some light on (The SSAP-SDGs has denied any wrongdoing).
SSAP-SDGs, Adejoke Orelope-Adefulire
Therefore, it is troubling that the police have become a willing tool to oppress the people they are meant to protect and uphold their rights. Unfortunately, the Nigeria Police Force and many other security agencies have long forgotten their core duties, as recent crackdowns on journalists and harmless citizens have shown.
Ironically, the petitioner is the founder of United Action for Change, which describes itself as “a pressure group and think tank with the drive to build a society where people are valued and treated equally and enjoy their rights as full citizens.”
The group’s website also states that it is “striving to enable citizens to exercise their democratic rights, assert their dignity as full citizens, and take control of their lives.”
Unless “democratic rights” have a different meaning, Mr. Banire and his organisation are as bad at their job as Mr. Daniel Ojukwu is good at his.
RECENT HISTORY OF CRACKDOWN ON JOURNALISTS
On Friday, the same day Mr. Ojukwu’s abduction by the police became known, Nigeria’s Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, made an easily verifiable false claim. He falsely claimed that, since President Tinubu assumed office on May 29, 2023, no journalist in the country had been detained.
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu at his inauguration on May 29, 2023
However, the facts do not support Mr. Idris’s claim. It was simply another speech that plays to the gallery but doesn’t cater to reality. In reality, there have been at least 11 cases of abuse of press freedom since the inception of the Tinubu administration.
Besides the latest example of Mr. Daniel Ojukwu, many journalists have ended up being arrested or abducted by security agencies for doing their jobs.
In February 2024, Kasarahchi Aniagolu, a journalist with The Whistler Newspaper, was arrested and detained by the anti-violent crime unit of the police. The officers who arrested and detained her for eight hours confiscated her gadgets physically assaulted her, and said they would kill her and nothing would happen.
In Kwara State, Engineer Abdul Jimoh Muhammed, the rector of the Kwara State Polytechnic, used the police to arrest Salihu Ayatullahi, the editor-in-chief of Informant247, and Adisa-Jaji Azeez, the managing editor. The publication had reported possible financial fraud in projects executed at the polytechnic.
Former President Muhammadu Buhari and President Bola Tinubu
These are only a few cases out of many that show a worrying pattern that press freedoms are tightening. While journalists faced similar threats under former President Buhari, a former military dictator, one would have expected things to be different under President Tinubu, a self-proclaimed democrat.
IT’S TIME FOR A CHANGE
Instead of providing logical reasons for the journalist’s arrest, the police spokesperson, Muyiwa Adejobi, spent the better part of his weekend threatening and insulting Nigerians who asked questions.
Police PRO, Muyiwa Adejobi
It’s a sad time for our country when the police are more interested in abducting harmless citizens and journalists than investigating crimes.
If the administration of President Bola Tinubu is serious with its rhetoric of creating meaningful change, it must call the police to order immediately.
Instead of barking at innocent citizens, the police should be reminded of their job to protect them and go after criminals who threaten their wellbeing. It can no longer be business as usual; journalism is not a crime. Mr. Daniel Ojukwu must be set free.
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