(MRA/IFEX) – On 14 March 2006, Segun Owolabi, a senior news officer with Rhythm 93 FM radio in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State Capital in the Niger Delta region, was arrested by officers of the State Security Service (SSS), Nigeria’s intelligence service, and detained overnight before being released on the afternoon of 15 March. Owolabi […]
(MRA/IFEX) – On 14 March 2006, Segun Owolabi, a senior news officer with Rhythm 93 FM radio in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State Capital in the Niger Delta region, was arrested by officers of the State Security Service (SSS), Nigeria’s intelligence service, and detained overnight before being released on the afternoon of 15 March.
Owolabi was detained at the SSS Headquarters in Port Harcourt. He was arrested for airing a news item on the radio station about a planned peaceful protest against the Port Harcourt District office of the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN), the Federal Government-owned electricity generating and distribution company. A non-governmental organization called Directory of Nigeria organized the protest to draw the attention of Port Harcourt residents to the worsening power situation in the state.
The news item, aired on 13 March, reportedly led to some senior management staff of PHCN accusing the station of being used to cause a breach of the peace and to incite the public to vandalise its facilities. Following the complaint, some plains-clothed operatives of the SSS raided the station and arrested Owolabi.
Owolabi said that during his detention he was asked to make a statement on the broadcast and was warned to refrain from doing anything that could jeopardise peace in the state. He said: “I was put inside a cell from 4 pm on Tuesday [14 March] until this afternoon [15 March], when I was released.”
His release followed the intervention of the Rivers State Commissioner for Information, Magnus Abe, and the Chief Press Secretary to the Rivers State Governor, Emma Okah, who pleaded with the SSS state director, Alhaji Kolawole Adesina, to release him.
The incident represents the third time in less than four months that journalists of Rhythm 93 FM, Port Harcourt, have been detained by security agents.
On 23 December 2005, Klem Ofuokwu, a reporter, and Cleopatra Tawo, a news presenter, of the same station were arrested by SSS agents in Port Harcourt. They were later arraigned before a Port Harcourt High Court on charges of broadcasting false information and ordered to be remanded in prison custody until 3 January 2006. On that date, they were released on bail and the station management fired both of them to pacify the state government (see IFEX alert of 27 December 2005).
Earlier, on 17 December 2005, armed policemen and SSS agents shut down the station and arrested David Obi, Head of News, and Loknan Dombim, Programmes Manager, whom they detained overnight. The station, which was re-opened hours later, was accused of broadcasting false information, for reporting on the alleged collapse of the Choba Bridge on the outskirts of the city, which caused panic among residents (see IFEX alert of 21 December 2005).
