(ARTICLE 19/IFEX) – Lanre Arogundade, the Chairman of the Lagos council of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), who had been detained since 25 April 1999, was released on Monday, 17 May. **Updates IFEX alerts of 17 May, 13 May, 12 May, 11 May, 5 May, 3 May, 30 April, 28 April, 20 April and […]
(ARTICLE 19/IFEX) – Lanre Arogundade, the Chairman of the Lagos council of
the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), who had been detained since 25 April
1999, was released on Monday, 17 May.
**Updates IFEX alerts of 17 May, 13 May, 12 May, 11 May, 5 May, 3 May, 30
April, 28 April, 20 April and 13 April 1999**
On 21 May, Arogundade’s case came up at the Magistrate Court. The police
reported that Arogundade has been granted bail. They also reported that they
had sent the case file to the Director of Public Prosecution in the Ministry
of Justice and were awaiting legal advice. The case was adjourned.
The implication of this ruling is that Arogundade is still on “holden
charge”. According to ARTICLE 19’s information, the police resorts to this
to give the impression that it is holding a suspect legally when in actual
fact it ought to have completed the investigation before arresting a
suspect. In line with the bail condition which states that Arogundade must
report at the police station fortnightly, he went to Ibadan, Oyo State, on
27 May. A signature campaign demanding that police drop all the charges
against Arogundade continues to gain fresh supporters daily.
