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EKO HOT BLOG reports that Madu Onuorah, Publisher and Editor-in-Chief of the Global-upfront Newspaper (Online), was forcibly taken by Nigerian Police Force operatives.
According to reports, the incident unfolded around 6 pm on Wednesday at his residence in Lugbe, Abuja, where approximately ten armed policemen arrived in two Sienna buses.
Onuorah’s family, present during the arrest, sought clarification from the police to no avail.
His phones were seized, cutting off communication, while he was denied access to legal counsel or relatives before being taken to Lugbe police station by unidentified officers, leaving his whereabouts unknown.
In response to the arrest, the management of Globalupfront Newspapers demanded the immediate and unconditional release of Madu Onuorah. They emphasized that Mr. Onuorah, with his extensive experience in reputable newspapers such as The Guardian Newspaper and The AUTHORITY Newspaper, has always operated within the boundaries of the law.
“Anybody who has any issue against Onuorah should approach the law court and not turn the Nigerian Police into a Gestapo outfit that bullies a man in the presence of his wife and children,” the newspapers said in a statement made available to journalists on Thursday in Abuja.
“That any second Mr Onuorah spends in police custody constitutes a serious infringement against his fundamental rights and a continuation of the assault on freedom of expression that has become a frequent occurrence in Nigeria recently,” the paper noted.
Barely two weeks ago, a journalist with the Foundation for Investigative Journalism (FIJ), Daniel Ojukwu, was released after he was arrested and detained by the Nigerian Police.
This onlien media recalls that Ojukwu was secretly abducted by the police in Lagos on Wednesday, May 1 and transferred to Abuja about three days later.
Ojukwu, who was in detention for nine days before being given access to his phones, was declared missing after his family, the journalist, and FIJ management were unaware of his whereabouts until 48 hours.
It was gathered that Ojukwu was released on Friday, a day after a coalition of civil society groups and a human rights activist, Omoyele Sowore, staged a protest at the Force Headquarters in Abuja to demand his release.
Journalist Lands In Police Custody
Previously, the Deputy Inspector General of Police in charge of operations, DIG Ayuba Ede, revealed that Ojukwu’s release was at the discretion of the Inspector General of Police, Olukayode Egbetokun.
During a closed-door meeting with a PUNCH Newspaper correspondent, Abiodun Sanusi, and a member of the Take It Back Movement, Oshioks Phillip, at the Force Headquarters on Thursday, Ede promised to submit the protesters’ demand to Egbetokun and the Deputy Inspector General of Police in charge of the FCID, Abiodun Alabi.
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