Professional bodies in the Nigerian media have called on President Bola Tinubu to save press freedom in Nigeria and ensure that the military officers who abducted the Editor of FirstNews, Segun Olatunji from his home in Lagos, on March 15, and kept him in detention for 12 days are punished for their “bad behaviour.”
The organisations comprising the International Press Institute (IPI), the Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE), and the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), made the call in a press conference held in Abuja on Monday.
According to a text of the press conference jointly signed by Musikilu Mojeed, President, IPI, Nigeria; Iyobosa Uwugiaren, Secretary, NGE; and Chris Isiguzo, President, NUJ, and sent to this newspaper, the abduction of Olatunji, according to his employer, was linked to a recent story published by the media organisation titled, “Revealed: Defence Chief running office like family business – Public Interest Lawyers.”
Narrating the ugly incident, Mr Olatunji’s wife, who witnessed the abduction of her husband, said the armed men stormed their residence a few minutes after 6pm that day and confiscated his telephone before shoving him into a van. She said she asked the abductors what her husband’s offence was and where they were taking him but the stern-looking men rebuffed her enquiries.
The media regretted that efforts to locate Olatunji proved futile as he was kept incommunicado by his abductors, leaving his family, employers and colleagues traumatised.
“For days, the leaderships of the IPI, the NGE and the NUJ frantically searched for Mr Olatunji. We interacted with the presidency, the Nigeria Police Force (Lagos and Abuja), the Nigerian Army, the Defence Intelligence Agency, the Ministry of Interior, the Defence Headquarters, the Office of the National Security Adviser, the Ministry of Information and National Orientation, and the State Security Services (SSS). Other security agencies were also contacted. But all the efforts failed until last night. The military claimed the journalist was not in their custody. They lied to us and top government officials whose interventions we sought.
“However, on Monday, IPI Nigeria was able to determine (without doubt) that the journalist was being detained and tortured by the Defence Intelligence Agency in Abuja. The IPI then informed the Chief of Defence Staff, General Christopher Musa and the Chief of Defence Intelligence, Major General Emmanuel Undiandeye, of its finding and asked them to release our colleague immediately. We also provided that information to top government officials who also reached out to Generals Musa and Undiandeye. Again, they lied that the journalist was not in their custody. Yet our sources were telling us we needed to act fast to save our colleague from being killed,” the statement read in part.
The statement noted that the IPI had on Wednesday issued a press statement accusing the DIA of abducting and detaining Olatunji and following the wide use of the statement in the media as well as news of the planned press conference, the abductors became jittery and confused and admitted to their crime on Wednesday night., and assured the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Alhaji Mohammed Idris of his immediate release.
The IPI, NGE and NUJ commended the minister of information and other top officials of government for their efforts towards the resolution of this matter.
“These reckless and anti-media officers, who apparently have no respect for civilian authorities, lied to and disobeyed officials of the federal government who intervened.
“We are sure that many right-thinking members of society, including the international community, are both amazed and shocked by the lawlessness and fear-provoking action of the DIA – an agency under the command of Major General Undiandeye, who reports directly to the Chief of Defence Staff, General Musa.
“The DIA’s action makes us wonder about its real intention. Our suspicion is that they planned to secretly eliminate Mr Olatunji so that members of the public could attribute his disappearance to unknown gunmen. But we are glad they failed,” the statement further noted.
The professional organisations described the action of the DIA as unacceptable, and alien to Nigeria’s democratic space, adding that it is now clear that there are some officers in our military who are still finding it difficult to subject themselves to civil authority 24 years after our country returned to representative governance.
“Although our colleague has now been released, we are calling on President Tinubu to ensure that these officers are punished for their bad behaviour. By all standards, the actions of the DIA, General Musa and Major General Undiandeye are against the provisions of Nigeria’s 1999 Constitution and other international instruments to which Nigeria is a signatory – which forbid the detention of any citizen or resident beyond 48 hours, except with a valid court order,” they added.
The statement further revealed that the Nigerian media community shall consult further in the next few days on the actions to take against the CDS, the CDI, and the military regarding this matter.
