A group of concerned journalists and bloggers have called on Vice President, Yemi Osibanjo to prevail on the police to release Premium Times reporter, Samuel Ogundipe.
In a statement issued on Thursday, the Concerned Journalist group said “We, the undersigned organization, are calling for the immediate release of unjustly detained journalist Samuel Ogundipe.
As an organization advocating for press freedom, we are outraged by Samuel’s arrest and detainment, which are in direct violation of the ethics of his job as a journalist and his rights as a Nigerian citizen.
Samuel is a well-known and respected journalist with Premium times.
The Nigerian police accused Ogundipe of stealing secret documents. Ibrahim Idris, Inspector-General of Police, reportedly ordered his arrest over a story on Lawal Daura, sacked Director-General of the Department of State Services (DSS).
The Nigerian police asked Ogundipe to disclose how he obtained the letter IGP wrote to the Acting President Yemi Osinbajo on Daura but the journalist declined.
According to Premium Times, the journalist was secretly arraigned before a magistrate court in Kubwa, Abuja, on Wednesday, without being granted access to his lawyers.
The Police accused him of violating Sections 352, 288 and 319 of the Penal Code. However, a review of the sections, however, indicated that they are not related to the charges but are about sexual assault and attempted murder.
The Nigerian constitution guarantees a free press. That means that reporters like Samuel can’t be subject to censorship by the government, nor can government use any measures to prevent the expression of ideas before they are published, or to punish reporters for doing their job. Prior restraint by any official means is clearly unconstitutional.
We are calling on the Nigerian police to release Samuel Ogundipe immediately. The unlawful arrest of Samuel violates his constitutional rights and is an attack on press freedom in our country.
Read below the letter;
The Acting President
Prof. Yemi Osibanjo (SAN)
The Presidency
Aso Villa,
Abuja, FCT
Your Excellency Sir,
REQUEST FOR AN IMMEDIATE RELEASE OF MR. SAMUEL OGUNDIPE, A JOURNALIST WITH THE PREMIUM TIMES
Greetings to you Sir.
We appreciate all the good efforts of this administration in making Nigeria a safe place to live and work.
This letter is borne out of our concern for one of our colleagues, Mr. Samuel Ogundipe, a Security reporter with the Premium Times, an online newspaper.
Samuel was arrested by the police, alongside his Editor-In-Chief, Muskilu Mojeed and the Education reporter, Azeezat Adedigba on Tuesday the 14th of August 2018. The other two were later released.
Information obtained from the pair revealed that the police refused to release Samuel due to his refusal to disclose the source of a published story on a recent memo of the Inspector General of Police, IGP addressed to you last week.
As you know Sir, confidentiality of sources is critical to the growth of quality journalism in every civilised society.
Today, we received with sadness news that Samuel was arraigned before an Abuja magistrate court by the police in a bid to get an order to prolong his detention. It is also worrisome that the police curiously omitted the fact that Samuel is a Nigerian journalist in the charge sheet presented to the magistrate.
We therefore demand that you use your good office as a renowned advocate of law and social justice to intervene expediently for the release of Samuel Ogundipe.
Nevertheless, we believe that the rule of law should be followed to the letter in the event of any legal and fair prosecution. We also wish to remind the Nigerian Police that a federal law enacted in 2011 (Freedom of Information Act) reposes on the Nigerian media certain privileges of Confidentiality in section 16c, and the police shall therefore be held accountable for any unconstitutional act designed to oppress or traumatize Mr. Ogundipe, or any Nigerian journalist practising legitimately.
We thank Your Excellency in advance, as we look forward to your usually swift action on this matter.
For and on behalf of over 200 independent Nigerian journalists, bloggers and other media workers.
Signed:
1.Niyi Tabiti
2.Moji Danisa-Dawodu
3.Kanbi Owolabi
4.Funke Osae-Brown
Concerned Journalist Group
