‘Kidnapped, Blindfolded, Handcuffed, Detained, and Tortured for 14 Days,’ Nigerian journalist answers tough questions, including ‘does any story worth the life of a journalist?’ He has some words for practicing journalists and students of journalism and communications when he led Platforms Africa’s e-Discourse on the topic ‘Africa: It’s Leaders, It’s Journalists And Thirst For Development; Examining The Triangle Of Hate, Service And Growth.” Excerpts;
What is your view on the state of journalism in Africa?
Journalism practice in Africa is still in an appalling state. We’re still very far away from attaining press freedom. And so journalists are still being constrained or limited by many factors in the practice of their profession. They’re not free to play their role in the society as the Fourth Estate of the Realm. The atmosphere in Africa is not at all friendly for the practice of journalism. A lot of lip service is still being paid by government and other authorities as well as even individuals to press freedom. The fact is that as we speak, journalists are still being repressed by the various governmental authorities and security agencies.
Are journalists on the continent discharging their roles as expected?
Not really. I don’t think they are. They’re seriously hamstrung by multifarious factors.
Could name a few of these factors?
Ok. Such factors include but not limited to lack of funding of the operations of the newsroom, insecurity, ownership influence and control, threats and legal suits, time constraint, poor access, poor remuneration, political interference and lack of trust by the public
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You were once abducted by the NDA in the line of your duty as a journalist. Can you share your experience on what led to that?
Sorry, I’ll have to bore you with the long details once again. I was abducted on Friday, March 15, 2024 from my Alagbado, Lagos, residence by a combined team of over 20 heavily armed military men, including Army, AirForce, Strike Force, Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA) operatives and others in plain clothes. It was an ugly situation, a Gestapo-like operation! These armed men stormed my residence in Lagos a few minutes after 6pm. I had just finished watching the popular television programme, Journalists Hangout on TVC with my seven-year-old son. The military men had earlier arrested my wife and our 16-month-old baby as well another woman and her two young children who were found with them in her shop nearby, confiscated her two cell phones, bundled all of them into their van and forced them to lead the armed men to our residence. On their arrival in my house, the armed men burst into our living room and their leader immediately seized my two phones and announced, “We’re from the military. We’re here to arrest you!” When I asked him to identify himself and produce a warrant for my arrest, he just insisted they had orders to effect my arrest and they had no time to waste. I then told them they should allow me to go into the bedroom to put on a shirt and trousers, as I was only in my boxer shots when they came in. Some of the armed soldiers then escorted me inside the bedroom where I quickly dressed up and followed them. By the time we got outside the house, I saw more armed men in about three or four military vehicles and on three power bikes. The armed men then quickly shoved me inside a van in the middle of their convoy. Inside the van, I was hemmed on both sides by two stern-looking armed men. Attempt by my wife to ascertain from my abductors where they were taking me was rebuffed by the stern-looking men and their boss, who I later identified as Col. Lawal. My wife and our two young children then started wailing as the armed men drove me away in their vehicles. At this point, I was overwhelmed by emotions seeing my wife and children crying. It was a harrowing experience for me and my family because my wife and children have now become traumatized by this incident. They had never seen such a large number of armed men in their lives, not to talk of the situation where these men actually came and suddenly took away their breadwinner to an unknown destination in such a gangsteric manner. Infact, I myself felt dejected seeing my wife and children crying and begging the armed men not to take me away. It was more or less a commando operation against a defenceless and armless journalist. The show of force by the armed men was not only frightening but also embarrassing to me because innocent residents of my neighbourhood were very scared seeing such a large number of armed men. Many of the people had to scamper to safety in order not to be caught up in any possible incident of accidental discharge from the guns of the heavily armed men in the course of my arrest. None of the armed men who came to arrest me gave any hint about where I was being taken. They had no time for such niceties. They were stern and fierce-looking. At first, I had thought they were taking me to the Directorate of Military Intelligence (DMI) in Apapa, Lagos, a military detention facility notorious for violation of human rights and killing of innocent citizens in the days of Military rule in Nigeria. But when the convoy got to the Sam Ethan Base of the Nigerian Air-Force in Ikeja, they entered the facility and drove straight to the front of the office of the National Air Defence Corps beside the Base’s hangar, where I was handcuffed and held in the van for more three hours with some of the armed men taking turns to watch over me. That was when it dawned on me that I was about to be flown to Abuja.
After then, the journey began and I was driven close to the hangar inside the Nigerian Air-Force Base in Ikeja, where I was handcuffed. By then, the day had got dark and shortly afterwards, a light military aircraft landed and one of the armed men suddenly removed my eye glasses and pulled a blindfold over my faced. They then immediately dragged me into the military aircraft, which then took off. I was still handcuffed and blindfolded inside the aircraft and throughout the over one hour fight to where I later learnt was Abuja, where my ordeal became intensified. I guess I was on that flight with only Col Lawal, who led the operation for my abduction and another soldier detailed to keep watch over me.
Immediately the plane landed in Abuja, we hurriedly disembarked and I was thrown into a military vehicle and now placed in the middle of about two armed soldiers and then the journey to their office began. I was still handcuffed and blindfolded! When we got to their office or barracks, I guess at about midnight or so, Col Lawal immediately handed me over to an officer on duty, who quickly stripped me of my trousers and put cuffs on my legs too. The officer then dragged me into a dark underground building, where I was thrown into a dark cell with the hand and leg cuffs still not loosened. My cell, Cell 6, was immediately locked up with big padlocks. I was then left in the dark cell, groaning from the pains from the hand and leg cuffs. Shortly after, an officer came and even tightened the cuffs on my right hand and leg, causing me very severe pains. I was then left behind in the cell in that terrible, painful state for about three days. After the officer had left, I heard the other inmates discussing in low tones that for me to have been so chained, I must have been a hardened criminal or committed a heinous crime against the Nigerian Government. That threw great fear into me. Anyway, by the time my hand and leg cuffs were loosened three days after, the right part of my body was already becoming numb due to improper flowing of blood in that part of my body. Up till now, I still have the numbness on my right hand and leg despite having received some medical treatment upon my release from detention. Some of the officers handling the inmates did threaten me a couple of times. For instance, when I first told them I would not want to be fed in detention with beans because of my ulcer, they said then I would not be given any food anytime beans was to be served the inmates. Inmates, including myself, most of the time, were not allowed to complain or report any inconvenience. The officers would often shun any inmate with complaints. After few days in detention, my ulcer problem got worse, but my persistent demand to be taken to see the doctor was rebuffed by the officers in charge.
Honestly, my life is no longer safe! I said this at a world press conference jointly addressed in Abuja by the International Press Institute (IPI), the Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE) and the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) shortly after my release from detention by the DIA. My family too is not safe. Before I was released, some of the soldiers warned me that I should know they have all my information and know where I could be picked up again if I should say anything after my freedom. Since the day of my arrest, my wife and children left our residence out of fear that the soldiers may come back or anything untoward may happen to them. And their fear is genuine. Since my release from detention, I have avoided the house too. I now live like a refugee. Currently, my family is dislocated as we all now live in separate places for fear of being harmed by those who sent the armed men to arrest me on March 15th. Moreso, given the warnings to me by the DIA Investigators before I was set free from detention, I no longer feel secure as a citizen of the Nigerian state. I now frequently look above my shoulders whenever I’m on the streets for fear of being abducted again by these armed men or their agents. In my case now, safety of my life is key. Of course, I’ve been advised by many of my colleagues, who fear for my safety, to immediately begin to consider my security as top priority, if I cherish my life. My life is the most important to me and my family and I have to be alive to cater to their needs. But my precarious situation now caused by my illegal arrest from my home on March 15th by some heavily armed men and the horrendous experience of my two-week detention in an underground military dungeon have seriously shaken my confidence in the Nigerian security system to guarantee the safety of my life. As I said earlier, I have to be alive to serve my society as a journalist and also take care of my family. Just as I said earlier, my life is not safe anymore. I’ve become an endangered species due to my recent ordeal in the hands of the military and their civilian/political masters, who, it’s now very clear from my recent detention experience, can order them to do and undo using even scarce state resources and machinery. My mind is no longer settled. I’m now being haunted by the fear of being abducted again and detained or even eliminated outright by these armed state agents. The manner the DIA released me to the representatives of the journalists’ associations has even created more fears in my heart. I was released to them like kidnappers would release their victim to their family members who have brought them ransom in exchange for the victim. I was released to the associations’ representatives not in the DIA office or facility. No. On Thursday, March 28, 2024, the DIA had earlier agreed to release me to my friend and brother, Yomi Odunuga, who is a senior journalist, around the ECOWAS Secretariat in Abuja. Yomi got to the agreed venue early in company with the Secretary General of the Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE), Dr Iyobosa Uwugiaren to await the arrival of the DIA agents, who were bringing me to them for my release. He called to inform them he was already at the agreed venue. At that point, I was rushed blindfolded by the DIA agents into a pickup van and placed in the middle of two of their officers at the back seat while another officer sat in the front seat of the vehicle, which drove roughly through the morning traffic. After driving for a while, the DIA officers called Yomi and asked him to leave the ECOWAS Secretariat area and now drive towards the DSS Abuja office, where he’ll find us. As he was doing that, the DIA officers called him again and asked him to change course and to now drive towards a particular road, where he would now see the van they were conveying me in.
A few minutes after, they called him again to change his movement towards a particular bridge. At this point, I was gripped with a fresh fear due to the manner they kept changing the spot where they would release me. Eventually, the van stopped and parked under a bridge along the lonely road. Shortly, Yomi’s car was ordered by the DIA officers to park behind their own van. It was at this point the DIA officers quickly pulled off the blindfold on my face to prevent those who had come to secure my release from seeing this. They, however, eventually released me to Yomi and the NGE Secretary General after they had signed my bail bond. This is still unnerving to me! Each time I recall this particular incident, I’m gripped with serious fears about these armed state agents. They can do and undo, especially with anyone in their custody.
That was a really horrible experience. How was it like spending over one week in the custody of your abductors?
I actually spent 14 days, which is two weeks with the DIA. Well, I was not interrogated until three days after my arrest and detention by the DIA in Abuja in an underground cell bound with hand and leg cuffs. Anyway, the three stern-looking DIA Investigators, who grilled me accused me, firstly, of abusing the Agency’s Chief of Defence Intelligence, Maj Gen Emmanuel Undiandeye in a story published on the website of First News as personalising his office; whatever they meant by that, I don’t know. But they later also questioned me about why we published a story about the Chief of Staff to the President of Nigeria, Rt Hon Femi Gbajabiamila, attempting to corner the sum of $US30billion and 66 landed property traced by President Tinubu’s Special Investigator, Jim Obazee, to one Tunde Sabiu Yusuf, a former aide to the immediate past President Muhammadu Buhari. The story published in January this year has the caption, “How Gbajabiamila attempted to corner $30bn, 66 property Special Investigator traced to Sabiu.” Interestingly, the DIA Investigators didn’t contest the veracity of the Gbajabiamila story, but were mainly concerned about my sources for that particular story. They insisted I must disclose to them my sources at the Nigerian President’s office at Aso Rock Villa in Abuja for that particular story and even others First News had done on the happenings in the nation’s highest corridors of power. They told me they were sure I had “insiders” in the Nigerian Presidency who had been feeding First News with information. The DIA Investigators also accused me of terrorism. This accusation I don’t understand because i don’t understand how this fits in to the purview of their investigation of my published stories. I believe they were just trying to give a dog a bad name in order to hang it. However, before I was brought in for questioning, the DIA Investigators had already ransacked my two phones earlier seized from me since March 15th when the soldiers abducted me from my house in Lagos, in search of my sources for the Gbajabiamila story and others published by First News. It would interest you to know that my two cell phones seized from me on March 15th were not returned to me until that moment I was released from detention after 14 harrowing days! Earlier, they had forced me to give them the passwords to my cell phones, which enabled to have easy access to searching them throughout my two-week detention in the DIA cell.
Has this experience discouraged you or affected your work in any way?
The DIA must have eventually released me after 14 days in captivity mainly due to the pressures from concerned Nigerians, my colleagues, like you all in the media and our professional bodies and above all, God the Almighty. At this juncture, I’ll therefore like to thank you all, the International Press Institute (IPI), the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) and the Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE) for your combined efforts in securing my release. These bodies and others pressurised the military and the Federal Government to get me out of detention. I thank you all. My ordeal, though horrendous, I remain unshaken. This is a profession I’ve practised for over 27 years now. My ordeal was the result of corruption in high places fighting back vehemently for being exposed and employing the military institutions to intimidate and harass a defenceless journalist. But those behind my ordeal have failed. I remain resolute in my practice of journalism to uphold all the standards and ethics of the profession. So, I’m not in any way discouraged by my recent experience and ordeal in the hands of the military.
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This is an experience that any journalist could face, what are the tips you want to share with budding journalists on how to become outstanding journalists?
All I’ll say is that we should at all times strive to be truthful about our stories. We must be doubly sure of our sources at all times. I’m saying this because the DIA Investigators, while interrogating me did not contest the veracity of our stories. No. They were only concerned about our sources for the stories, particularly the Gbajabiamila story we published in January. They were desperate to know the “insiders” we have in the Presidency giving us the hints about such stories. Once you consistently pursue the truth in your practice, the sky is the limit.
Talking about budding journalists, what do you think of how journalists are being trained these days and how they are recruited?
Well, the various training institutes are trying their best in maintaining the standards. But the quality of students admitted is a matter of serious concern. Some few years back, I was involved in the training of Mass Communication students in a public higher institution. The quality of students usually gave me serious concern. So many of the students admitted, I felt shouldn’t have put in for a course like Mass Communication. I just hope the standards have improved now. Regarding recruitment, that is where the wheat is usually separated from the chaff. We’ve had to even give serious re-training to even First Class graduates.
Reading through your ordeal, there is nothing to show that the government has condemned your abduction, why so?
Well, I’m just as surprised at this silence by the government as everyone. I guess they’re taking their time to react.
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Are you seeking compensation?
My own lawyers are already studying the entire saga and when they’re done, we’ll come out with the appropriate action to take to right the wrongs done to me by the DIA.
As an Editor, would you recruit your Reporters, purely based on their popularity on Social Media or the number of followers they have on Social Media?
Their competence and conscientiousness will be the number one criterion I’ll consider.
From the ordeal you went through, would you say any story is worth a journalist’s life?
No. I don’t think so because we’re not armed by state like military men in performing our duty to our society. Therefore, in our practice, caution, security consciousness and awareness should be our watchwords. Don’t dabble in the dangerous game of blackmail. Then, entrust your security into the hands of the Almighty God. He’s the only one who can guarantee you sure security. This is however not to say that we shouldn’t engage in investigative stories and stories that will hold those in the corridors of power accountable.
Would you suggest some form of insurance for journalists to take care of them if they go through such horrible experience you went through?
Of course, yes. I’m all for insurance policies for all journalists. Infact, my recent ordeal has now compelled the management of First News to take the steps to procure insurance policies for all staff. This is a good, commendable development. I just hope all other media employers will borrow a leaf from the First News initiative.
This edition of e-Discourse, a weekly event organised by Platforms Africa, a forum created by award-winning African journalist, Adeola Yusuf, is moderated by Accra, Ghana-based veteran journalist, Francis KOKUTSE
