One week after he was taken from his Lagos residence by armed men who turned out to be policemen, Daniel Ojukwu, a journalist with an online news platform, the Foundation for Investigative Journalism (FIJ), has remained in police custody despite strong calls for his release.
Ojukwu’s lawyer, Abimbola Ojenike, told Channels Television on Tuesday that Ojukwu was taken from his Lagos residence on Wednesday, May 1, hours to this year’s Press Freedom Day.
“We observed that Daniel Ojukwu was missing and his numbers were deactivated. A subsequent private investigation revealed that he was, based on the phone signals, found at somewhere around Isheri Olofin. Nobody knew his whereabouts from then,” he said.
“Subsequent information revealed that he was at the State Criminal Investigation Department, Panti, Lagos, and his mother found him there. No explanation was given as to the details of his arrest and he was not granted bail.”
Ojenike said the order based on which Ojukwu was “abducted” came from the office of the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Kayode Egbetokun.
The lawyer said the reporter was denied access to his counsel and relocated to the Force Criminal Investigation Department in Abuja subsequently.
“He has not been charged, he has not been charged before any court of competent jurisdiction but he was later presented with a petition regarding a certain story that he wrote about a certain deputy governor of Lagos State who is currently a special adviser to the President on Millennium Development Goals, Adejoke Orelope-Adefulire,” he said.
The lawyer said his client has written a statement based on the petition filed against him and “we believe that the normal thing is for him to be granted bail”.
“He (Ojukwu) is not a flight risk in any way and if he had been invited, he would have honoured the police invitation. So, there is no point taking people in a way that gets everyone agitated,” Ojenike said.
