A 72-year-old journalist, Tom Uhia has been released after spending one month in detention following a complaint by a junior power minister Jeddy Agba.
Nigerian journalist Oga Tom Uhia who is the editor of Power Steering magazine was arrested on October 13 from his residence in Gwarimpa, Abuja.
He was nabbed by the police following a libel complaint filed against him by power minister Jeddy Agba, CPJ reported.
He was charged with 14 counts of defamation and injurious falsehood by the police. He denied all the charges.
Both CPJ and RSF condemned Mr. Uhia’s arrest, with both media rights watchdogs warning the Nigerian government to drop all charges and stop worsening the ccountry’s press freedom standing.
Nigeria’s overall human rights performance has worsened since President Muhammadu Buhari assumed office in 2015, and journalists have continued to suffer under detention and interference from the police and the federal agents. The arrests and charges were mostly about defamation of character, which is a civil matter that ordinarily should not warrant deployment of state assets
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