In another wave of clampdown on journalists demanding accountability leadership in the country, armed police operatives in Abuja have abducted Madu Onuorah, Publisher and Editor-in-Chief of Global Upfront Newspaper.
Onuorah, according to Foundation for Investigative Journalism (FIJ) was whisked away from his residential house in Lugbe, Abuja by about 10 armed policemen around 6pm on Wednesday in the presence of his wife and children.
The FIJ quoted a statement by the management of the online news platform saying the journalist was taken away by police officers in two Sienne buses without providing a warrant for his arrest neither disclosing his offence.
Demanding for justice to the journalist, the medium management described his unlawful arrest as a serious infringement against his fundamental human rights, saying the publisher was neither given chance to contact his lawyer nor any of his relations and the police left no traces for his family to reach them.
“He was not even allowed to contact his lawyer or any of his relations before he was whisked away to the Lugbe police station by the stern-looking operatives”.
“To make sure Mr. Onuorah did not get attention or bail, the policemen who arrested him, though not of the Lugbe Police Station, simply dumped him at the station and left no traces for friends and family members to reach them.”
“Any second 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 read the statement in parts.
WikkiTimes recalled that earlier on May 1st, Daniel Ojukwu, a reporter with FIJ was abducted and detained in State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID) Panti, Lagos by police officers, he was later moved to the Nigeria Police Force National Cybercrime Centre (NPF-NCCC) in Abuja on May 5 and later to the Force Criminal Investigation Department (FCID) that same day and finally release on bail on May 10th.
Also, the NPF-NCCC had invited Nurudeen Yahaya Akewushola, a reporter with the International Centre for Investigative Reporting (ICIR), last week, following a report detailing how past police bosses used their offices for official corruption.
It would also be recalled that not only Nurudeen but also the “managing directors” of the ICR were invited by the cybercrime centre who accused them of cyberstalking.
Similarly, FirstNews general editor, Segun Olatunji was also kidnapped by armed soldiers, who detained him for two weeks in an underground cell over a report that implicated Femi Gbajabiamila, the President’s Chief of Staff (Cos), in corruption. However, following FirstNews’ apology to Gbajabiamila, the editor tendered his resignation.
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