Daniel Ojukwu, abducted reporter, regains freedom after protests

Sequel to protests by some Civil Society Organisations in Abuja, Daniel Ojukwu, a journalist with the Foundation for Investigative Journalism, reportedly abducted by the Intelligence Response Team of the Inspector General of Police has regained freedom.

It was learnt Ojukwu regained freedom on Friday after being held captive for 10 days in the custody of the police.

A post on the official website of FIJ disclosed this on Friday.

According to reports, Ojukwu was said to have gone missing on May 1, his numbers were switched off and his whereabouts unknown to colleagues, family and friends.

Twenty-four hours after he went missing, FIJ made a missing person report at police stations in the area where Ojukwu was headed.

It was gathered that a FIJ hired detective tracked the last active location of the journalist’s phones to an address in Isheri Olofin, a location FIJ now believes was where the police originally picked him up.

Subsequently, Ojukwu’s family got wind of his detention at Panti, Yaba, which houses the State Criminal Investigation Department of the Lagos State Police Command, where they were made to understand the authorities were holding him for violating the 2015 Cybercrime Act.

Meanwhile, on Sunday morning, the Intelligence Response Team of the Inspector General of Police relocated him to the Nigeria Police Force National Cybercrime Centre in Abuja.

It was also learnt that the police gave FIJ’s lawyers and negotiators, led by the publisher of SaharaReporters, Omoyele Sowore; Chairman of the Nigeria Union of Journalists, FCT Correspondents Chapel, Jide Oyekunle; and Bukky Shonibare, Chairman of FIJ’s Board of Trustees, stringent bail conditions.

Consequently, some Civil Society Organisations and journalists, on Thursday stormed the Force Headquarters in Abuja to demand the release of Ojukwu.

The protesters included a legal practitioner, Deji Adeyanju; Sowore, a pro-democracy activist and presidential candidate of the African Action Congress in the 2023 general elections, Sowore; amongst others.

The protesters were seen carrying banners with the inscriptions: Free Daniel Ojukwu; No to a police state; Journalism is not a crime; and Stop the impunity.

However, after civil society organisations marched to the Force Headquarters on Thursday to press for his release, the police started to soft-pedal, leading to his eventual release on Friday.

Reacting to the development, Abimbola Ojenike, Managing Partner of Slingstone LP, FIJ’s attorneys, said: “Daniel Ojukwu’s case is one of the most egregious cases of human rights violation and misuse of the powers of the Police against journalists.

“This will not go unchallenged.

“There’s a significant public interest in Daniel’s human rights enforcement action that goes beyond just this violation.

“The constitutional right to free speech is dead if journalists can no longer expose the malfeasance in government officials without fear or oppression.”