Men of the State Criminal Investigation Department, Panti, Lagos, Lagos State have allegedly refused the lawyers of the detained journalist with Foundation for Investigative Journalism (FIJ), Daniel Ojukwu, access to him.
A lawyer, Ridwan Oke, disclosed this on X.com, on Saturday.
It was reported that Ojukwu was said to have gone missing on Wednesday and was unreachable as his numbers were switched off and his whereabouts unknown to colleagues, family and friends.
Twenty-four hours after he went missing, FIJ filed a missing persons’ report at police stations in the area where Ojukwu was headed.
Luckily, a private detective hired by FIJ eventually managed to trace the last active location of Ojukwu’s phones to an address in Isheri Olofin.
Oke, who tweets as @Ridwanullahii disclosed that Ojukwu was still in the custody of the SCID and was not allowed access to his lawyers, family or friends.
He revealed that police officers were given express instructions not to allow him access to anyone at all.
“Daniel was not allowed to call his lawyers, friends or relatives to notify them of his arrest.
“The officers gave express instructions not to allow him to reach out to anyone. He was kept incommunicado,” he said.
He disclosed that the police claimed to possess a remand and search warrant for Ojukwu, but have failed to show it to him, neither has the police briefed him on the details of his arrest.
“Police claim they have remand and search warrants but have never shown them to him. Daniel, up till this moment hasn’t been officially shown the petition against him nor has the police communicated who the complainant is to him.
“The unit involved is said to be the ‘NPF National Cybercrime Centre (NCC) from Abuja’ which means the offence being alleged is a bailable offence but he has not been offered bail and they haven’t presented him in court as enshrined in our laws. The officers here in Panti said they couldn’t help as it was not their case. No one is taking responsibility,” the lawyer said.
He added that efforts to reach the Force Public Relations Officer, Assistant Commissioner Olumuyiwa Adejobi, proved abortive as he did not pick up calls made to his number, nor did he return the calls.
“Now, I have tried to reach @Princemoye1 but he’s not picking nor returning. No one has so far offered any meaningful explanation and a citizen is being detained unnecessarily for a bailable offence.
“You have to free Daniel now. He has certain health conditions which need medical attention. If anything happens to him, the Nigerian Police Force @PoliceNG should be held accountable”, Oke concluded.
Recently, it was reported that gunmen later identified to be operatives of Defence Intelligence Agency abducted the editor of FirstNews newspaper, Segun Olatunji, from his home in Lagos State.
Olatunji, a former Kaduna State correspondent of The PUNCH, was abducted on Friday, 15 March 2024, from his home in the Iyana Odo, Abule Egba area of the state.
The management of the online newspaper linked the action to a recent story published by FirstNews titled, “Revealed: “Defence Chief running an office like a family business – Public Interest Lawyers”, published by many other online platforms.
He was later released on 28 March 2024, to some media stakeholders, including Yomi Odunuga of The Nation newspapers and the General Secretary of the Nigerian Guild of Editors, Dr, Iyobosa Uwugiaren in Abuja after sustained pressure from the media.
