The Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA) authorities who have been keeping Segun Olatunji, an editor with the FirstNews Newspaper, had him released Thursday after a two-week ordeal.
Mr. Olatunji was bundled out of his home in Lagos March 15, 2024 and flown to Abuja where he was kept incommunicado over stories published by his newspaper, which were deemed unpalatable by those in authority.
Speaking after he was released Mr. Olatunji narrated his brush with the military.
“Someone came claiming to be from the military. He identified himself as Colonel Lawal. Immediately, he seized my phones.
“I went to the room to dress up. By the time I got downstairs, I saw soldiers inside the compound taking positions. Outside the gate, I saw about three vehicles with Air Force personnel, Army, Defence Intelligence Agency, and others all fully armed.
“I was handcuffed and taken straight to the office of the National Air Defence Corps where we waited for three hours. I did not know that they were waiting for an aircraft to pick me up in Abuja.
“When the aircraft landed, I was blindfolded and moved to the aircraft, and we landed in Abuja shortly. I was leg cuffed also. They removed my clothes and I was left with my boxers. I was taken to Cell 9.
“There, I was left with leg and handcuffs. And at a point, one of the officers came and tightened the right leg and the right hand, and I was there groaning in pain. They did not loosen it until about two or three days after.
“Up till now, I could still feel the pains in my hands and legs.
“They were asking me questions about certain stories that FirstNews had published.
“They first told me that I was one of those abusing the Chief of Defence Intelligence (Major General Emmanuel Undiandeye). They did not say much about that.
” Those behind my arrest are people in the corridors of power who are not happy with what FirstNews is doing and are bent on taking their own pound of flesh,” he added.
Meanwhile the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ), the International Press Institute (IPI) and the Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE) have urged President Bola Tinubu to punish officers involved in the fragrant violation of Mr. Olatunji’s fundamental human rights.
“If officers in a military institution like DIA could hack a journalist’s telephone, mishandle his wife, abduct him, detain him secretly, and disobey senior officials of the Federal Government, then our democracy cannot be said to be safe. 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,” the IPI president Musikiliu Mojeed said on behalf of the group.
