CJID condemns police abduction of journalist Stanley Ugabe, demands release

The Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development (CJID) has strongly condemned the Nigerian police for the alleged abduction of journalist Stanley Ugabe. Ugabe, who works for the online news platform Secrets Reporters, was reportedly taken from his home in Abuja on July 3 and held for six days by the Nigeria Police Force National Cybercrime Centre (NPF-NCCC) without any formal communication or public statement from the authorities.

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CJID finds the approach of the Nigerian Police in this incident quite disturbing. At a time when Nigeria is grappling with a rise in insecurity, rampant banditry, and kidnappings for ransom, it is condemnable that state security agents, especially the police, are adopting abduction tactics similar to those of criminal syndicates.

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has suggested that Ugabe's disappearance may be linked to a recent investigation published by his organization. The CJID, in a statement released by its Deputy Director, Busola Ajibola, expressed deep concern over the police's approach. The NPF-NCCC issued a formal invitation to the Publisher and Editor-in-Chief of Secrets Reporters, Tega Oghenedoro, on the same day the CJID statement was released. The invitation cited investigations into "Espionage, Cyberstalking and Computer-related offences."

CJID described the police's tactics as "disturbing," drawing parallels between their methods and those of criminal syndicates. The use of plainclothes officers, unmarked vehicles, blindfolding, and holding individuals incommunicado erodes public trust and blurs the line between lawful arrests and criminal abductions, especially in a country grappling with insecurity. The organization views the invitation to Oghenedoro, based on vague accusations under the controversial Cybercrime Act, as a continuation of the crackdown on the media.

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Operating in plainclothes, using unmarked vehicles, blindfolding citizens, and holding them incommunicado erodes public trust and makes it practically impossible for law-abiding citizens to distinguish between lawful arrests and ruthless criminal abductions.

In response, CJID has called upon the Inspector-General of Police to take immediate action. Their demands include the unconditional release of Stanley Ugabe, the withdrawal of the summons against Tega Oghenedoro, and an end to the alleged weaponization of the NPF-NCCC and the Cybercrime Act against journalists. Furthermore, CJID seeks a probe into the officers involved in Ugabe's abduction for violating police operational guidelines and human rights. This incident is seen as a significant setback for media freedom in Nigeria, which ranked 112th in the World Press Freedom Index.

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This rather disturbing abduction, coupled with the invitation of Mr Oghenedoro over an unclear investigation of an ‘espionage,’ using the controversial Cybercrime Act, is a deeply troubling continuation of the severe clampdown on the media witnessed under the immediate past Inspector-General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun.