The Nigeria Police Force (NPF) has confirmed the arrest of Daniel Ojukwu, a journalist with the Foundation for Investigative Journalism (FIJ).
Ojukwu was said to have been abducted by the Intelligence Response Team (IRT) of the Inspector General of Police and is currently being held at the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID), Panti in Lagos.
According to FIJ founder, Fisayo Soyombo, Ojukwu went missing on Wednesday May 1.
On Thursday, FIJ initially made a missing person report at police stations in the area where Ojukwu was headed, however, on Friday, a private detective hired by FIJ tracked the last active location of his phones to an address in Isheri Olofin, a location FIJ now believes was where the police originally picked it up.
Ojukwu’s family would subsequently get wind of his detention at Panti, where they were made to understand the authorities are accusing him of violating the 2015 Cybercrime Act.
“A relative who visited him told FIJ that the authorities declined to provide contact details of the Investigating Police Officer (IPO) on jurisdictional grounds as the case was beyond Lagos.
“The arresting officers are part of the IG Monitoring Team.
“They said when they are done arresting the other people on their watchlist in Lagos, they would transfer him and others to Abuja.”
“The police have been holding Ojukwu incommunicado, denying him access to legal representation.
“The police have not formally said a word on why they abducted Ojukwu. However, when the Nigeria Police Force National Cybercrime Centre (NPF-NCCC) grilled Bukky Shonibare, the chairman of FIJ’s Board of Trustees, at their Abuja office in March, they had mentioned FIJ’s story on how Adejoke Orelope-Adefulire, the then senior special assistant on sustainable development goals (SSAP-SDGs) to the president, paid N147.1 million to an account traced to Enseno Global Ventures (Enseno GV), an Abuja-based restaurant, for the construction of a classroom.
“A few days later, Ademuyiwa Adejobi, Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), then told ‘Politics Today’, a Channels TV programme that there were “two or three weighty allegations” against FIJ and its founder Fisayo Soyombo.
“Asked during the interview if the police had declared Soyombo wanted or not, Adejobi said: “I sought a clarification from the CP. He told me no, but definitely they are going to invite him because there are weighty allegations concerning certain publications that his platform did.
“And of course, an invitation to the police at this level is just to come and clarify certain things. Nothing more.”
Reacting yesterday, Adejobi, while confirming the arrest of the journalist, said: “It has been confirmed that the journalist, Daniel Ojukwu, was arrested by the Nigeria Police National Cybercrime Centre, Abuja, based on a petition filed against him.
“It’s a case of violation of the Cybercrime Prohibition Act 2015 and other extant laws of the land. He has a case to answer. This was confirmed to me on Sunday by the CP and head of the centre. The FHQ will address this matter as soon as possible to clear the gray areas.”
