Atiku Abubakar, the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has condemned the arrest of Daniel Ojukwu, a journalist working with the Foundation for Investigative Journalism (FIJ), by the police.
In a statement on his X account on Sunday, the former vice president said the arrest of the journalist barely 48 hours after the “observance of the World Press Freedom Day, speaks volumes of the character of the Tinubu administration to freedom of the press.”
The arrest of Ojukwu, he noted, “may not be unconnected with the groundbreaking investigative works of the independent Foundation for Investigative Journalism (FIJ) that has exposed alleged high profile smuggler with links to top officials of this administration.”
Countering the statement made by Mohammed Idris, the minister of information, that no journalist had been incarcerated by Tinubu administration, Atiku recalled the arrest and detention of Segun Olatunji of FirstNews Newspaper and Chinonso Uba aka Nonso Ukwa of Oziza FM Radio.
“It is not only irresponsible to arrest journalists for exposing the ills that abound in this government, it is also a breach of their constitutionally guaranteed #FreePress.
“The least that is expected of the relevant authorities is to #FreeOjukwu,” he said.
