Daniel Ojukwu is an investigative journalist in Nigeria.
Investigative Journalism Foundation
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Investigative Journalism Foundation
Daniel Ojukwu is an investigative journalist in Nigeria.
Investigative Journalism Foundation
LAGOS, Nigeria — Police have arrested an investigative journalist in Nigeria and detained him without charge for more than a week, raising concerns for his safety. His case has also drawn criticism from media and advocacy groups about climate deterioration for independent journalism in Africa’s most populous country.
Police arrested 26-year-old Daniel Ojukwu on May 1 in Lagos. He was reported missing the next day by colleagues at the Nigeria Foundation for Investigative Journalism (FIJ), after friends and family were unable to contact him by phone. The International Press Federation hired private investigators who found his last whereabouts before his arrest, prompting journalists to demand answers from the Nigerian police.
Police did not confirm his arrest until Sunday, days after he was transferred to the capital, Abuja, where he was charged with violating the Cybercrimes Act, a law Controversial law This gives the Nigerian government broad powers to regulate perceived online crimes. it has been criticized before Amnesty International as a means to punish journalists and undermine the right to freedom of expression.
The arrest comes in the wake of investigative reports conducted by Ojukwu and his colleagues that revealed corruption involving senior Nigerian officials. The presidential official, Adegoke Orelubi Adefulire, who was tasked with achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals, allegedly ordered the transfer of more than $106,000 in government funds to a restaurant in the capital, Ojukwu reports. Funds have been allocated in the budget for the construction of the school building and learning centre, however, According to Ojukwu’s report, the facilities were never built. Orelope-Adefulire did not respond to these allegations.
Fisayo Soyombo, founder of the International Press Federation, described Ojukwu’s arrest – two days before World Press Freedom Day on May 3 – as a “kidnapping”. “I use that word very carefully because they never invited him to address concerns about the story in question. Instead, they tracked him down, arrested him and detained him,” he said.
As of Wednesday, a week after his arrest, Nigerian police had not questioned Ojukwu about the story he filed, or questioned him about any alleged crime, Soyombo said, adding that the IFJ contacted Ojukwu on Sunday by phone. “All they did was throw him in a cell.” Police did not respond to NPR’s requests for comment.
Ojukwu’s arrest was another sign of the “appalling” climate for independent journalism in Nigeria.
“If a journalist can be kidnapped over that story, I think anyone with a doubt can see clearly that Nigeria is currently running a fake democracy,” Soyombo said.
Soyombo is also being investigated by police for publishing a report in February that revealed alleged collusion between senior Nigerian police, customs officials and smugglers, in the movement of arms and foodstuffs across Nigeria’s border with Benin. The organization said that Nigerian police interrogated a member of the International Federation of Justice’s board of directors in April.
The Committee to Protect Journalists met on Wednesday, Issue a statement He urged the authorities in Nigeria to “immediately release journalist Daniel Ojukwu and stop intimidating and arresting journalists who investigate the government’s spending of public funds.”
“The Nigerian police’s investigations into such a reputable media outlet show how willing they are to silence journalists who seek to expose crime,” said Angela Quintal, head of the Committee to Protect Journalists’ Africa Program.
Ojukwu’s case is the latest in a growing number of arrests of journalists over the past year under the government of President Bola Tinubu. Last month, another journalist, Segun Olatunji, was arrested and detained for two weeks by the Nigerian army, following a report exposing alleged corruption by the president’s chief of staff, Femi Gbajabiamila. He was released last week without charges, and he told local media that officers stripped him, blindfolded him, and arrested him.
Various media groups in Nigeria, including the Nigerian Union of Journalists, issued a joint statement urging the government to stop using “oppressive tactics.” Nigeria is one of the most dangerous and difficult countries in West Africa for journalists, who face regular surveillance, assault and arbitrary arrest. According to Reporters Without BordersWhich ranked Nigeria 112 out of 180 countries For freedom of the press.
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