By Our Correspondent
The just released Editor of FirstNews Online, Mr Segun Olatunji, has recounted his excruciating ordeals in the hand of his abductors – gunmen dressed in military uniforms.
Olatunji was abducted on March 15 from his Abule Egba residence in Lagos and taken to an unknown location but following mounting pressure from local and international organisations, the abductors set him free on Thursday morning, after keeping him incommunicado for nearly 13 days.
Narrating his harrowing experience in Abuja to the leaderships of Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE), Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), and International Press Institute (IPI) shortly after his freedom from captivity, Olatunji said that the abductors chained his leg and hand after they had hurled him into a torturous cell.
He revealed that at a stage, they returned to tighten the cuffs, to elicit more pain and thereafter, left him to groan agonizingly for three days.
“At first, they put me in a cell. There I was left with leg and hand cuffs. And at a point, one of the officers came and tightened the right leg and the right hand, and I was there groaning in pains.
“They didn’t loosen it until about two or three days after. And at that time, the whole part of my body was getting node. In fact, up till now, I can still feel the pains,” he said.
While the ordeals lasted, the Editor said they grilled him intermittently over certain stories published by FirstNews, even as he fingered those linked to the corridors of powers as responsible for his arrests, detention and torturous time with the captors.
“While in detention, they were asking me questions about certain stories that FirstNews had carried.
“They first told me that I was one of those abusing the Chief of Defence Intelligence. Then they also asked about a story we carried about the Chief of Staff to the President, and that was a major thing.
“Those behind my arrest are people behind the corridors of power, who are not happy with what FirstNews is doing, and are bent on taking their own pound of flesh,” he narrated.
Recounting his experience further, he said his life was no longer safe on account of the manner he was abducted from his home, blindfolded and tortured by the soldiers.
He said before the abduction, the DIA had allegedly hacked his phone and was tracking his movements for weeks.
“My life is no longer safe given the manner the soldiers tracked me from my village to Lagos before my abduction.
“I was with my seven-year-old son when the army broke into the house. They bundled me into their vehicle.”
On his experience while in detention, Olatunji said the military took away his eyeglasses before they blindfolded and handcuffed him.
“I was blindfolded and groaning in pain. I can still feel the numbness on my right wrist because of the handcuffs. They cuffed my legs and put me in an underground cell.
“Last night, I was asked to call someone who would stand as a surety. It was then that I phoned Yomi Odunuga.”
Olatunji expressed gratitude to Nigerian journalists and everyone who pressured the military for his release.
Meanwhile, the Nigeria Guild of Editors (NGE), Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) and the International Press Institute (IPI) have described the abduction of the Editor of FirstNews Online newspaper, Segun Olatunji by the Defence Intelligence Agency(DIA), as an attack on press freedom.
They said Olatunji’s release is not the end of the matter, assuring that the Nigerian media community would deliberate on the matter in the coming days to know what actions to take against the Chief of Defence Staff, the Chief of Defence Intelligence and the military.
Addressing Newsmen in Abuja shortly after Olatunji was released, the Secretary General of the Nigerian Guild of Editor, Iyobosa Uwagiaren, speaking alongside the President of IPI Nigeria; Musikilu Mojeed and President of NUJ, Chris Isiguzo, revealed efforts made by NGE, NUJ, and IPI to locate Olatunji but without success.
He noted that their sources repeatedly told them to act fast to prevent the death of their colleagues.
He said: “We interacted with the presidency, the Nigeria Police Force (Lagos and Abuja), the Nigerian Army, the Defence Intelligence Agency, the Ministry of Interior, the Defence Headquarters, the Office of the National Security Adviser, the Ministry of Information and National Orientation, and the State Security Services. Other security agencies were also contacted.
“But all the efforts failed until last night. The military claimed the journalist was not in their custody. They lied to us and top government officials whose interventions we sought. The DIA’s action makes us wonder about its real intention. Our suspicion is that they planned to secretly eliminate Mr Olatunji so that members of the public could attribute his disappearance to unknown gunmen. But we are glad they failed.
“However, on Monday, IPI Nigeria was able to determine (without doubt) that the journalist was being detained and tortured by the Defence Intelligence Agency in Abuja. The IPI then informed the Chief of Defence Staff, General Christopher Musa and the Chief of Defence Intelligence, Major General Emmanuel Undiandeye, of its finding and asked them to release our colleague immediately.
“We also provided that information to top government officials who also reached out to Generals Musa and Undiandeye. Again, they lied that the journalist was not in their custody. Yet our sources were telling us we needed to act fast to save our colleague from being killed.
“More so, the DIA’s action is a direct attack on press freedom. One of the core missions of the free press is to serve as a watchdog on power. The press, as we all know, is the connection between the people and the government. If the press is not allowed to carry out its social and constitutional responsibilities but instead obligated to power, it simply serves as an extension of power.
“Without freedom of the press, our democracy is endangered. In the case of corruption, a free press is critical to exposing abuses of power. For sure, the media is not above the law, but in a democracy, the only way to determine wrong or right is through the legal process.
“This is not the end of this matter. The Nigerian media community shall consult further in the next few days on the actions to take against the CDS, the CDI, and the military regarding this matter”, they assured.
