(IJC/IFEX) – Police have sent an arrest warrant to Bayo Onanuga, the editor-in-chief of the magazine “The NEWS”. The warrant, dated 2 October 1997, asked Onanuga to appear before a Chief Superintendent of Police (CSP) in the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of the Police Force Headquarters, Abuja at 10:00 am on 6 October. **New case […]
(IJC/IFEX) – Police have sent an arrest warrant to Bayo Onanuga,
the editor-in-chief of the magazine “The NEWS”. The warrant,
dated 2 October 1997, asked Onanuga to appear before a Chief
Superintendent of Police (CSP) in the Criminal Investigation
Department (CID) of the Police Force Headquarters, Abuja at 10:00
am on 6 October.
**New case plus update to IFEX alerts dated 25 and 19 September
1997 (Reth Ateloye)**
Two plainclothes policemen came to the offices of “The NEWS” on 3
October, ordered the company’s guards to sign for the arrest
warrant, and left word that Onanuga must comply with the
instruction to report to their headquarters.
Meanwhile, Onanuga and all other editors of the magazine have
gone into hiding. Nevertheless, “The NEWS” and its sister titles,
“TEMPO” and “PM News”, continue to appear on newsstands
regularly.
Elsewhere, Reth Ateloye, the “FAME” magazine staffer detained on
17 September 1997 (see IFEX alerts), is dead. He died at a
private hospital in Ketu, a Lagos suburb, in the early hours of 5
October from an illness he developed during his detention.
Ateloye, on crutches, was placed in an overcrowded cell at the
Federal Bureau of Intelligence and Investigation (FIIB) office in
Ikoyi, Lagos, after his arrest. He took ill two days later and
was taken to Military Hospital in Ikoyi, Lagos. He was released
on 22 September when his condition just slightly improved. After
his release, his condition worsened and he was taken to the Ketu
hospital where he eventually died.
