(MRA/IFEX) – On 2 May 2005, Omo-Ojo Orobosa, publisher of the “Midwest Herald” newspaper, was arrested in Lagos on charges of sedition while the Lagos office of the tabloid was sealed off. He was reportedly taken by police to Akure, the Ondo State capital, about 300 kilometres away, where he is being detained. According to […]
(MRA/IFEX) – On 2 May 2005, Omo-Ojo Orobosa, publisher of the “Midwest Herald” newspaper, was arrested in Lagos on charges of sedition while the Lagos office of the tabloid was sealed off. He was reportedly taken by police to Akure, the Ondo State capital, about 300 kilometres away, where he is being detained.
According to Orobosa’s lawyer, Festus Keyamo, the publisher was arrested by detectives from the “D” Department of the Ondo State Police Command, allegedly on the orders of Stella Obasanjo, Nigeria’s first lady.
Orobosa reportedly arrived at his office to meet a team of police officers, led by Police Inspector Sunday Owolabi, who were waiting for him. The policemen, who had cordoned off the tabloid’s office in Ikeja, Lagos, introduced themselves as officers from “D” Department, Criminal Investigation Department (CID), in Akure. They said they had received orders from the first lady to arrest Orobosa over a publication in the previous week’s edition of the “Midwest Herald”, titled “Greedy Stella”.
Although they did not have an arrest warrant, the police officers took Orobosa away on allegations of having committed the offence of “sedition” and subsequently drove him to Akure.
Keyamo condemned the arrest, saying, “If the first lady feels defamed, her recourse should be to the law courts for civil defamation, and not [to resort] to the well known [late General Sani] Abacha tactics. We call for the immediate release of Omo-Ojo, while we proceed to court to enforce his fundamental rights.”
Ayodeji Amusa, Obasanjo’s spokesperson, said he was not aware of the arrest. He claimed that the first lady would have informed him if the story of the arrest had been true.
The Ondo State Police Command has, however, confirmed the arrest and detention of Orobosa, saying that he is in their custody and being held for sedition.
