Over 48 hours after the editor of FirstNews, Mr. Segun Olatunji was whisked away by some gunmen suspected to be soldiers from his Iyana Odo, Abule Egba, Lagos residence, his wife, Oluwatosin said his whereabouts were still unknown.
The armed men, numbering 10, reportedly arrived at Olatunji’s residence, a few minutes after 6 pm last Friday, and reached for his phone, seized it immediately before bundling him into a van.
The Assistant Director of Public Relations at the 9 Brigade of the Nigerian Army, Major Augustine Kolawole Bello did not respond to inquiries sent to his phone by newsmen on Friday night.
Olatunji’s wife, who described her husband as a gentle person, stated that despite efforts by his employers (FirstNews) to get him released, nothing has been achieved so far.
She added that the closest she has in terms of good news about the abduction was the promise made by the publisher of FirstNews, Mr. Daniel Iworiso-Markson, that her husband would be back by the end of Saturday.
“I have not heard from him (her husband) since the abduction. What I was told was that his employers have started working for his release. My husband’s brother told me that his boss (Mr. Iworiso-Markson) said he would be back before the end of Saturday. Till now, I have not seen him.
“My husband is not troublesome. He is only focused on doing his job even while he was working for PUNCH”, Mrs. Olatunji told newsmen on Sunday.
Though the armed men did not give reasons for the abduction, FirstNews management said in a statement that the action could be in connection with recently published stories titled -“Revealed: “Defence Chief running an office like a family business – Public Interest Lawyers”, published by many other online platforms and “EXCLUSIVE: How contractor, the company stole N100 billion, laundered funds for top govt officials – Investigation” (which was later pulled down).
Reacting to the claims by the newspaper, Olatunji’s wife denied knowledge of such stories, saying she only read about them after the abduction.
“He was with me three weeks ago, and he didn’t mention anything of such. I only heard about the controversial stories in the news like every other person. I am surprised as well because my husband always sends me his stories, but these particular ones, I am not aware of them”, she stated.
