(MFWA/IFEX) – On 30 December 2004, Sam Obi, a Nigerian journalist and presenter for the privately-owned City Limits Radio station, was detained and subjected to questioning by officials of the Gambia Police Force’s Serious Crime Unit for six hours, in Serre Kunda, following an interview he granted to Radio France International (RFI). According to MFWA […]
(MFWA/IFEX) – On 30 December 2004, Sam Obi, a Nigerian journalist and presenter for the privately-owned City Limits Radio station, was detained and subjected to questioning by officials of the Gambia Police Force’s Serious Crime Unit for six hours, in Serre Kunda, following an interview he granted to Radio France International (RFI).
According to MFWA sources in The Gambia, Obi’s interview with RFI dealt with a march organised by the Gambia Press Union to protest the brutal murder of Deyda Hydara, managing editor of the Banjul-based newspaper “The Point” (see IFEX alerts of 6 January 2005 and 17 December 2004).
After airing the interview with RFI, Obi was summoned to the police station for interrogation. Police later seized his tape recordings and residential permits. “I was later escorted to City Limits Radio station to collect the tape on which the interview was recorded, then to my house, where my residential permits and other documents were seized,” Obi told Gambia Press Union President Demba Jawo, who condemned the arrest.
After nearly six hours in detention, the journalist was allowed to go home. However, Obi was asked to report back to the police station on 31 December. His seized documents were returned to him and he was freed without charge.
