Members of the Civil Society Organisations (CSOs), human rights advocates and journalists, Thursday, staged a protest at the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) Headquarters in Abuja over the continued detention of Daniel Ojukwu, a journalist working with Foundation of Investigative Journalism (FIJ).
Ojukwu was reportedly arrested in Lagos by police officers on May 1, 2024, without the knowledge of his family and employesr who, decalred him missing.
It was later discovered that he was arrested for allegedly violating the Cybercrime Act, often criticized as a tool for censorship, and later transferred to the NPF National Centre for Cybercrime Centre ( NPF-NCCC) in Abuja.
The journalist, who has since been in police custody, was reportedly arrested over a publication about alleged financial mismanagement of over N147 million ($104,600) involving a senior government official.
The protesters led by Action Group on the Protection of Civic Actors, a coalition of media and civil society groups, maintained that Ojukwu’s continued detention amounted to an extrajudicial trial and punishment.
Addressing journalists during the protest, the Spokesperson of the group, Bukky Shonibare, said the recent surge in attacks on press freedom and the silencing of dissenting voices was becoming alarming.
She said that after nine days in detention followimg his forcefully arrest allegedly orders of the Inspector General of Police, IGP Kayode Egbetokun, the police were duty bound to file charges against Ojukwu or release him unconditionally.
