Protesters demand release of detained journalist at Force Headquarters
Hundreds of protesters including journalists, activists, members of the civil society organisations, among others, on Thursday, stormed Force Headquarters, Abuja, to protest against continued detention of a journalist with Foundation of Investigative Journalism (FIJ), Daniel Ojukwu.
The visibly angry protesters, led by the Country Director of Accountability Lab Nigeria, Friday Odey, demanded immediate release of Ojukwu, saying his continued detention is equivalent to an extrajudicial trial and punishment.
Other prominent activists among 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, the board chairperson of FIJ, Bukola Shonibare, among others.
Armed with placards containing different inscriptions, such as ‘Free Daniel Ojukwu,’ ‘No to a police state,’ Journalism is not a crime,’ ‘Stop the impunity’, among others, the protesters wondered why government officials would use the instruments of the state to oppress journalists doing their work.
Daily Trust had reported how Ojukwu went missing on Wednesday, May 1, with his phone numbers turned off, leaving his whereabouts unknown to colleagues, family and friends.
Despite initial efforts by his employer, FIJ, to file a missing person report at police stations in the area where Ojukwu was last seen, his location remained undisclosed by the police who abducted him, and the police failed to release the detained journalist after seven days.
The detained journalist was subsequently transferred by the Intelligence Response Team to Abuja, where he was detained in a cell at the Nigeria Police Force National Cybercrime Centre, and later to the FCID, Area 10.
Speaking during the protest, Accountability Lad Nigeria boss, Odey, said, “We also condemn the incessant use and abuse of the remand order process, which is observed to be the new machinery for which the Nigeria Police continuously violates the rights of Nigerian citizens.
“It is discovered that the police boast of obtaining a remand order without providing such a document for the suspect or his lawyers to see whenever they unlawfully arrest individuals. Even when such orders are obtained, it is usually cloaked with suspicion as the court from which it is obtained is usually miles away from the police station where the suspect is detained.
“Even where there is an established court within a shorter distance of the police station. This is contrary to the rule of law, and it should be of great concern to the police that it would be seen by the general public as an institution that acts and conducts its duties contrary to the rule of law, which is critical to the sustenance of our democracy,” he stated.