Newspaper writes Tinubu over police harassment

The Worldwide Centre for Investigative Reporting (ICIR) has written to President Bola Tinubu asking him to order the investigation and prosecution of two former Inspectors Normal of Police, Solomon Arase, and Ibrahim Idris, and different individuals concerned in an alleged unlawful sale of lands designated for police barracks.

The media organisation additionally requested the president to droop Mr Arase because the Chairperson of the Police Service Fee (PSC) to pave the way in which for an impartial investigation of abuse of workplace and corruption towards him “as contained on this petition and the ICIR investigative report.”

“We write this letter to hunt refuge from Your Excellency from the acts of intimidation and menace to the lifetime of personnel of the ICIR carried out by the Inspector Normal of Police (IGP), Kayode Egbetokun and the Chairman of the Police Service Fee (PS), Mr Solomon Arase,” the Government Director of the ICIR, Dayo Aiyetan, wrote within the letter, a replica of which this newspaper obtained.

The letter by the ICIR is in response to the harassment of the organisation’s personnel by the police in response to a narrative the newspaper revealed detailing allegations of fraud and corruption towards the 2 former IGPs and different high-ranking law enforcement officials.

The report

In February, ICIR revealed its investigative report which was backed by proof of affidavits and paperwork of ongoing litigation over the lands positioned in several components of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), exposing the unlawful sale of the lands by means of a contracting agency, Corpren Worldwide Restricted, beneath the guise of growing the police residential property.

The ICIR story additionally revealed that Mr Arase enabled Corpran Worldwide Restricted to acquire practically N1 billion from the Police Mortgage Financial institution with out collateral.

It additionally indicted Andy Chime, the proprietor of Corpran Worldwide Restricted, of getting used to dupe the NPF within the unlawful deal.

Police Intimidation

Following the publication of the ICIR report, Mr Arase and Corpran Worldwide Restricted instituted lawsuits towards the newspaper and Mr Akewushola, the reporter who authored the story.

Messrs Arase and Chime additionally wrote a petition to the Nigerian Police Drive Cybercrime Centre (NPF-NCCC), accusing the journalists of cyberstalking and defamation of character —resulting in the harassment of the journalists by the police.

Final Tuesday, Messrs Akewushola and Aiyetan have been detained by the NPF-NCCC for over 9 hours after honouring an invite by the identical centre.

They arrived at midday however have been solely launched after 9 p.m. Their launch by the police is probably not unconnected to the widespread condemnation of the conduct of the safety operatives over the matter as journalists and activists took to social media to advocate their quick and unconditional launch.

Messrs Aiyetan and Akewushola advised PREMIUM TIMES after their launch that their invitation and transient detention have been attributable to a petition by Messrs Arase and Chime, the proprietor of Copran Worldwide Restricted.

“Mr Arase’s petition, which he personally signed, was written on the letterhead of the Police Service Fee, of which Mr Arase is the Chairman,” Mr Aiyetan wrote, describing equivalent to a brazen and flagrant abuse of the PSC workplace occupied by Mr Arase.

“Utilizing his official capability to jot down a petition regarding a non-public matter was in all intent and goal aimed toward utilizing the Police to intimidate and threaten the ICIR and its journalists,” he stated.

Mr Aiyetan questioned why the Director of the NPF-NCCC, Oche Henry, was not desirous about Andy Chime’s accusations however within the supply of the ICIR report and the proof it had towards Mr Arase.

“The NPF-NCCC Director was decided to not launch the ICIR duo until they produced the proof they used within the report towards Mr Arase. Thus, the NPF-NCC was attempting to pressure out of the ICIR the identical proof it could want to make use of to defend itself within the case instituted towards it by Mr Arase,” he added.

Mr Akewushola stated the police insisted on figuring out the sources for his story, describing it as an outright violation of journalistic ethics.

The police additionally advised the journalists that they might be known as upon once more, indicating that the harassment would proceed.

ICIR writes Tinubu

In its letter, the ICIR requested Mr Tinubu to institute an impartial investigation, devoid of police involvement, into the allegations of fraud and corruption within the sale of the police property.

“We consider that the Impartial Corrupt Practices and Different Associated Offences Fee, ICPC, has already commenced a full investigation,” Mr Aiyetan wrote.

Other than searching for the suspension of Mr Arase from workplace, ICIR additionally requested Mr Tinubu to instruct the IGP to desist from permitting the NPF-NCCC or another arm of the NPF to intimidate, molest or threaten the ICIR, its trustees and reporters, for pursuing their respectable duties as journalists as mandated by part 22 of the Structure.

“The harassment of the ICIR journalists is the most recent in a development whereby the Police have kidnapped or arrested journalists for alleged cyberstalking for merely publishing stories which the topics of investigative stories discover offensive. We regard this development of attacking the media as a harmful one and an assault on our democracy,” Mr Aiyetan wrote.

A sample

Greater than two dozen journalists have confronted not less than one type of harassment from safety companies this 12 months, in accordance with Press Attacker, a mission of the Centre for Journalism Innovation and Improvement (CJID) which tracks and verifies assaults on journalists.

Proper teams and activists have additionally condemned what’s now a rising development of assaults on press freedom beneath the administration of Mr Tinubu who took workplace final 12 months.

Throughout a gathering with members of the. Newspaper Proprietors’ Affiliation of Nigeria (NPAN) in December, Mr Tinubu dedicated to upholding the beliefs of press freedom. However his administration has not walked the discuss as press assaults continued unabated beneath his watch.

Qosim Suleiman is a reporter at Premium Occasions in partnership with Report for the World, which matches native newsrooms with proficient rising journalists to report on under-covered points across the globe