The Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development (CJID) has condemned the abduction of Nigerian journalist Stanley Ugabe by the Nigeria Police Force and demanded his immediate release. Ugabe, a journalist with the online news platform Secrets Reporters, was taken from his home in the Jikwoyi area of Abuja on 3 July. The Committee to Protect Journalists linked his disappearance to a recent investigation published by his organisation.
CJID details police detention without communication
In a press statement released by Deputy Director of the Journalism Programme, Busola Ajibola, CJID confirmed that the Nigeria Police Force National Cybercrime Centre (NPF-NCCC) detained Ugabe for six days without any formal or public communication from the police. The statement also noted that the NPF-NCCC issued a formal letter of invitation to the Publisher and Editor-in-Chief of Secrets Reporters, Tega Oghenedoro, on the same Monday.
In the letter, the police claimed they were investigating a case of “Espionage, Cyberstalking and Computer-related offences” involving him. The police also directed Oghenedoro to report to the NPF-NCCC for an interview on 8 July at 10:00 a.m.
CJID criticises police tactics as similar to criminal abduction
“CJID finds the approach of the Nigerian Police in this incident quite disturbing. At a time when Nigeria is grappling with a rise in insecurity, rampant banditry, and kidnappings for ransom, it is condemnable that state security agents, especially the police, are adopting abduction tactics similar to those of criminal syndicates,” the statement read. It added that operating in plainclothes, using unmarked vehicles, blindfolding citizens, and holding them incommunicado erodes public trust and makes it impossible for law-abiding citizens to distinguish between lawful arrests and ruthless criminal abductions.
“This rather disturbing abduction, coupled with the invitation of Mr Oghenedoro over an unclear investigation of an ‘espionage,’ using the controversial Cybercrime Act, is a deeply troubling continuation of the severe clampdown on the media witnessed under the immediate past Inspector-General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun,” the statement continued.
CJID demands immediate release and probe
CJID called on the Inspector-General of Police to demand the immediate and unconditional release of Ugabe, the withdrawal of summons against Oghenedoro, and the stopping of the weaponisation of the NPF-NCCC and the Cybercrime Act against journalists. It also demanded a probe into the officers who carried out the abduction for violating police operational guidelines and the fundamental human rights of the journalist.
This recent event represents another major setback for media independence in Nigeria. According to Reporters Without Borders (RSF), Nigeria ranked 112th in the World Press Freedom Index, with a global score of 46.81. The police have weaponised the Cybercrime Act to harass journalists; for instance, the Nigerian police charged a journalist with cyberstalking for calling Delta State Governor Sherif Oborevwori and a senator’s names on social media.
CJID launches Press Attack Tracker amid ongoing clampdown
As part of its solution to fight against press attacks, CJID officially launched the Press Attack Tracker (PAT West Africa). The organisation documented a series of press attacks in its tracker under Mr Egbetokun’s administration, including over 45 journalists who have been attacked and unlawfully detained. In April, the IGP, Mr Disu, expressed commitment to ending impunity, especially by police officers, in Nigeria. A month later, the Commissioner of Police for the Federal Capital Territory Command, Ahmed Sanusi, also pledged the police’s commitment to upholding human rights. Yet, “the commando-style abduction of Mr Ugabe makes a mockery of this pledge,” CJID lamented.
The organisation encouraged the force to report to the Ombudsman where there are allegations that a journalist or newsroom has derailed from journalistic principles, and called on Mr Disu to immediately walk the talk.
