(IJC/IFEX) – The Administration Manager of The News/TEMPO/PM News group, Rafiu Salau, has been arrested and detained at the Directorate of Military Intelligence (DMI), Apapa, Lagos. Salau was arrested on 18 November 1997 at the offices of the DMI where he had gone to check on Adetokunbo Fakeye, defence reporter for “PM News”, who has […]
(IJC/IFEX) – The Administration Manager of The News/TEMPO/PM News
group, Rafiu Salau, has been arrested and detained at the
Directorate of Military Intelligence (DMI), Apapa, Lagos. Salau
was arrested on 18 November 1997 at the offices of the DMI where
he had gone to check on Adetokunbo Fakeye, defence reporter for
“PM News”, who has been in detention since 25 October (see IFEX
alert).
The publisher and editor-in-chief of the newspaper “THISDAY”,
Nduka Obaigbena, was arrested on 14 November. He was arrested at
the lobby of the Nicon Noga Hilton Hotel, Abuja (the Federal
Capital), shortly after his arrival there, and is still being
detained at an unknown location.
Authorities have issued no statement on Obaigbena’s arrest, but
“THISDAY” sources said his arrest is believed to be connected to
the paper’s cover story on 9 November, entitled “Four Men Behind
Abacha”. The story analysed the strategic importance of four
officials in President Sani Abacha’s administration.
The Taraba state correspondent of “The News”, Ben Adaji, was
arrested in Jalingo, the state capital, on 17 November. Adaji
left Taraba state and went into hiding some weeks ago when the
government ordered a man-hunt for him over a story he had written
about a communal clash in the Takum district of the state. Adaji
returned to Jalingo last week after he received information that
the security agencies had relaxed their search for him. Believing
that he could continue his work, Adaji had been lying low until
his arrest.
Joshua Nnayerum Ogbonna, publisher of “Rising Sun”, a weekly
newspaper based in Umuahia, Abia state capital, has been declared
wanted by police. In a press bulletin dated 12 November, the Zone
6 headquarters of the Nigeria Police said Ogbonna is wanted by
the zone’s Criminal Investigation Department (CID) offices in
Calabar, Cross River State capital, for “criminal defamatory
publication”. The particular publication in “Rising Sun” which
led to this action is still not known
Elsewhere, the management of The News/TEMPO/PM News group has
expressed alarm over alleged threats to the life of its managing
director and editor-in-chief, Bayo Onanuga. In a statement issued
on 19 November, the group said it had received information that a
certain army officer is in Lagos on a “find-and-kill mission”
with Onanuga as his prime target. The group said that Onanuga had
long gone into hiding following persistent raids on his office,
but the group was still worried by the tactics adopted by the
security agencies.
The statement said the killing of journalist Dele Giwa – by a
parcel bomb delivered to his breakfast table – in 1986 made the
threat to the lives of Onanuga and all the group’s journalists
currently detained or followed very real and frightening.
Ladi Olorunyomi, wife of Dapo Olorunyomi, former editor-in-chief
of “The News” and “TEMPO”, was arrested around midnight on 2
November and asked to lead security agents to Onanuga’s house.
Jenkins Alumona, editor of “The News”, and Rafiu Salau and
Femi Ojudu, the group’s administration manager and managing
editor, respectively, have also been arrested and detained (see
IFEX alerts).
Operatives of the security and military agencies maintain
continued presence around the group’s offices, all in the hope of
catching Onanuga.
