The Department of State Services (DSS) operatives have arrested an investigative journalist, Adejuwon Soyinka.Soyinka, the Regional Editor for West Africa at The Conversation Africa and the founding Editor of BBC Pidgin Service, was reportedly arrested by DSS operatives at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport in Lagos upon arrival from the United Kingdom....READ THE FULL ARTICLE HERE ▶▶
A friend of his in a message to The Punch said no reason was given for his arrest and Soyinka had been held incommunicado.
The message read, “Adejuwon Soyinka has been detained by officers of the Department of State Security at the Muritala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos. The incident happened around 5.40 am on Sunday, the 25th of August, 2024, shortly after he arrived in Nigeria via a Virgin Atlantic flight from the United Kingdom.
“As at the time of this report, no reason had been given for his detention by the security agency. Soyinka has not been reachable as messages and calls to his phone have been unanswered.”
When contacted, the DSS spokesperson, Peter Afunanya said he was not aware of Soyinka’s arrest.
Soyinka’s arrest follows a growing trend of arrest of journalists in the country.
It is coming days after the Nigerian Police Force confirmed that its operatives arrested Isaac Bristol, known as PIDOMNigeria, an investigative journalist accused of being involved in several government leaks and “subversive” activities.
This admission came two days after West Africa Weekly‘s Editor-in-Chief, David Hundeyin, published details of how a suspected intelligence agent who claimed to be a confidant of the detainee unwittingly confirmed his abduction.
Hundeyin said Isaac had been detained in a dungeon in handcuffs for six days without food before he got wind of his arrest.
Following the publication alerting the public of PIDOM’s sudden disappearance, the Force Public Relations Officer, Muyiwa Adejobi, disclosed on Saturday that “over 14 petitions filed by individuals, agencies and two state governors” led to his arrest in his hotel room in Rivers State on Thursday, August 5, 2024.
According to Adejobi, officers of the Nigeria Police Force National Crime Cybercrime Centre, or (NPF-NCCC), apprehended PIDOM for committing offences deemed to “undermine the integrity of government operations.”
Allegations against him include unlawful possession and leakage of classified documents, as well as cyber-related offences and others.
Meanwhile, PIDOMNigeria is known for high-profile document leaks and online exposés showcasing various Nigerian government irregularities and injustice perpetrated behind public knowledge.
These leaks have caused embarrassment at the highest levels of government and, most importantly, informed the public of shady practices committed by individuals, government agencies, and public servants.
Earlier in May, an investigative journalist with the Foundation for Investigative Journalism (FIJ), Daniel Ojukwu was arrested by police and held without charge for over a week, leading to growing fears for his safety.
He was reported missing by his colleagues after friends and family were unable to reach him by phone.
FIJ hired private investigators who found his last location before he was arrested, leading journalists to demand answers from Nigerian police.
The police eventually confirmed his arrest and he has since been released on bail after pressure from Nigerians.
Similarly, officers of the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) in May, arrested Madu Onuorah, publisher and editor-in-chief of Globalupfront Newspaper, from his residence in Abuja.
Armed police officers reportedly besieged Onuorah’s residence in the Lugbe area around 6pm on Wednesday in two Sienna buses.
Also then editor of FirstNews, an independent digital news network, Segun Olatunji, was abducted by at least ten armed men ‘two of them in military uniforms’ from his home in the Iyana Odo, Abule Egba area in Lagos on 15 March.
Olatunji was released on 28 March by the Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA).
He was handed over to the General Secretary of the Nigeria Guild of Editors, Iyobosa Uwugiaren in Abuja.
