Anger trails journalist’s strange abduction in North Central Nigeria

An eruption of fury and indignation has followed the abduction of Nigerian Journalist, Rowland ‘Shuwa’ Olonishuwa, based in Ilorin from his residence by armed individuals believed to have been dispatched from the Special Fraud Unit, SFU, of the Lagos state police command, as learnt by diasporadigitalmedia.com .

By mid-day Thursday, the Nigerian Union of Journalists NUJ, Kwara State Chapter and the Guild of Digital Journalists, GDJ, have issued separate statements on the incident, denouncing the manner in which the journalist was taken from his home without notifying the state police command in Kwara.

Shuwa was forcibly taken from his home along Asa-Dam Road, Ilorin, yesterday morning (25th of September, 2024) by detectives from the Special Fraud Unit of the Police in Lagos, according to investigations.

The NUJ council in the state revealed that operatives of SFU descended on the journalist’s residence, taking him away without informing the Kwara State Police command.

“Upon receiving the report of yesterday’s incident (Wednesday) morning, the leadership of the Kwara NUJ Council promptly took action, contacting the Kwara State Police Command to inquire about the arrest.

“In a conversation with the Command’s Public Relations Officer, DSP Toun Ejire-Adeyemi, it was verified that the Kwara State Police Command was unaware of the operation and had not been informed of any planned activities involving officers from Lagos,” elucidated Mahmoud Yinka Alaya, Secretary of the state council, in a preliminary explanatory note electronically signed by him and disseminated across various media platforms.

‘Shuwa’, as per the statement, was apprehended by the SFU and transported to Lagos due to news reports concerning a commercial bank, currently under investigation by the Nigerian House of Representatives.

Although the news has been extensively covered by mainstream and new media outlets, there are signs that the bank’s CEO objected to a particular bias in the story that implicated him in connection to a failed television venture.

In response to the arrest, the Guild of Digital Journalists, a group of seasoned journalists from mainstream media also working as bloggers and based in Kwara, North Central Nigeria, stated that ‘Shuwa’s detention is a blatant violation of his journalistic rights.

“The method of arrest lacks proper procedure, and he has been deprived of communication with the external world,” as stated in GDJ’s release signed by Oyez Olatunde Rextun, Secretary General, and Opeyemi Daniel Adeoti, Chairman, both of GDJ.

The state journalists’ council in Kwara has reported the matter to its national body.

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