Nigerian Police Invite, Detain Xinhua Journalist, Ask Him To Disclose His Source

Olatunbosun Awoniyi

The police in Lagos, southwest Nigeria, detained and manhandled Mr. Olatunbosun Awoniyi, a journalist working with the Xinhua News Agency in Nigeria, presupposing him to disclose his source.

P.M. EXPRESS reports that the senior news editor was later released after about three hours of detention at the Area A Command of the Nigeria Police Force, Lion Building, Lagos. He was made to write a statement before his lawyer, Barrister Deji Roland Omokhaiye of Deji Rowland Chambers, Ikeja, Lagos.

During interrogation by plain-cloth police operatives, Mr Awoniyi said he was repeatedly asked to disclose his source for a story published by the agency on bandits’ activities and the security source.

“I was threatened with all kinds of words, including telling me that they would come after my family,” Awoniyi said in a press statement released through his lawyer.

“I told the officers that I wouldn’t say a word until my lawyer came in; unfortunately, I was kept in a dirty room, where I stayed for three hours before my lawyer came and got my bail,” he said.

Barrister Omokhaiye wondered why a journalist who was doing his lawful duties could face the trauma Awoniyi faced in the hands of Lagos police when the Nigerian constitution is clear on the fundamental human rights enjoyed by all citizens in the country.

He called on the Inspector General of the Police (IGP), Usman Alkali Baba, CFR, to call his men to order, adding that his chamber would not hesitate to approach the court of the law if his client is made to face a similar ordeal in the future.