DSS Arrest Blogger Over Report On Ogun Governor
Category: Nigeria News
The Department of State Services has reportedly arrested a blogger, Ahmed
Olamilekan, for allegedly publishing a story on Ogun State Governor, Dapo
Abiodun.
The report was said to be on Abiodun’s alleged criminal
records in the United States.
Olamilekan’s lawyer, Festus Ogun,
said his client had been in detention since Friday after he honoured an
invitation by the Ogun State command of the secret police.
He
accused the governor of instigating his client’s arrest, adding that Abiodun
had the right to challenge the publication in court instead of using the DSS
to harass the reporter.
Abiodun had been involved in a battle with his political adversaries, who
called for his disqualification over his alleged arrest in the US for a credit
card fraud and forgery in 1986.
The governor, who is running for
re-election under the ruling All Progressives Congress, had dismissed the
claims, saying they were not sufficient grounds for his disqualification.
But
speaking to our correspondent on the phone on Monday, Ogun said he had just
left the DSS office but was not allowed to see his client.
He said, “Ahmed was invited for questioning by the Ogun State command of the
Department of State Services over a publication relating to the controversial
criminal past of the state governor. Thereafter, he was forced against his
will to pull down the story from his news blog.
“On Friday, last
week, he was invited again and because my client had nothing to hide, he again
honoured their invitation. Since then, he has been held incommunicado. He has
not been granted access to his family or lawyer and he has been detained
beyond the time contemplated by law. Currently, he is being arbitrarily
tortured, intimidated and denied his fundamental rights to liberty guaranteed
under Section 35 of the constitution.
“I am just leaving the Ogun
State command of the security service; they did not allow me, his legal
representative, to have access to him. The law is clear: you cannot detain a
suspect beyond 24 or 48 hours, as the case may be.
“Again, I
became very worried why the governor would instigate the arrest because in the
very first place, when a journalist files a report that the governor feels
worried about, he is entitled by law to approach the court for redress. But
the governor didn’t do so. I do not think journalism is a crime in this
country; why should a journalist be treated in such a despicable manner?”
The DSS spokesman, Peter Afunanya, denied that the journalist was
in the agency’s custody.
“Let the lawyer be truthful to you,” he
added.
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