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Soyombo Goes into Hiding as Plot to Arrest Journalist Thickens
Nigerians have condemned an alleged plot by security operatives to seize investigative journalist, Fisayo Soyombo.
The reporter, whose undercover stories exposed corruption in Nigerian police cells and prisons, has since gone into hiding. The “threat is real,” he told The Guardian, noting, however, that he is “safe and calm.”
The first instalment of the three-part investigation by Soyombo, a former editor of The Cable and a contributor to Al Jazeera, detailed how policemen “pervert the course of justice in their quest for ill-gotten money”.
In the second part published on Monday by The Cable, he exposed “how the courts shortchange the law and (how) the prisons are themselves a cesspool of the exact reasons for which they hold inmates.”
The final part of the report is yet to be published.
During the investigation, Soyombo had taken the alias ‘Ojo Olajumoke’, spent five days in a cell at Pedro Police Station, Shomolu, Lagos, and eight days in Ikoyi prison.
His report is backed with audio, pictorial and video evidence of alleged corruption in the country’s judicial system.
The Guardian learned that the second part of Soyombo’s story irked prison authorities, especially the comptroller-general.
A security source told The Guardian yesterday morning that Soyombo, scheduled to speak at a workshop on fake news organised by Goethe Institute the same day, was to be arrested at the venue. He has since pulled out of the event.
“Prisons authorities are very angry and have decided to get the journalist arrested,” the source said, adding: “He is to be charged to court and prosecuted under Section 29 of the Nigeria Correctional Service Act.”
Subsection 1 (d) of the Act states that a person is deemed to have committed an offence if he “procures or facilitates the procurement of communication devices for an inmate or makes conversation or aids the making of conversation through a mobile phone or other devices to an inmate other than as provided in the Correctional Standing Orders and other related correctional policies.”
Another source said the journalist has been forced to vacate his residence, which rent he recently renewed, and has gone underground.
The hounding of journalists in Nigeria is gaining notoriety. Agba Jalingo, a journalist and publisher of online newspaper, CrossRiverWatch, is currently in jail, accused of treason after publishing a story on the alleged diversion of N500 million by Cross River State Governor Ben Ayade.
Another, Jones Abiri, is also facing prosecution under Nigeria’s cybercrimes act, anti-sabotage act, and terrorism prevention act, for crimes allegedly carried out in 2016.
Abiri was held by Nigeria’s secret police without any charge between July 2016 and August 2018, only to be rearrested nine months after the Department of State Services (DSS) freed him.
In #KeepFisayoSafe, which is trending on Twitter, some Nigerians expressed their disappointment at the development.
Amnesty International Nigeria said it was “concerned about threats to the life of Fisayo Soyombo, an investigative journalist whose work recently exposed injustice and human rights violations.”
Enough Is Enough, a network of individuals and organisations committed to good governance and public accountability, also said: “These moves against future investigative stories are actually attacks by the state on democratic governance and the authority of the citizenry.”
Ayò Bánkólé @AyoBankole wrote: “You cannot claim to fight corruption, yet turn around to witch-hunt a journalist who went undercover (at risk to his own life) to expose the biggest corruption racket within your own law enforcement agency. It shows your corruption fight is nothing but a fraud!”
Another, Chxta@Chxta, said: “Paying N10,000 ($28) to delete a prisoner’s record, because he has plans to run for political office, is not a crime. Telling the world that this is what happens in a prison in Nigeria is apparently a crime.”
Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project @SERAPNigeria, said the alleged plan to arrest Soyombo was yet another assault on media freedom in Nigeria and puts investigative journalism in the digital age under serious threat.
“The Police should vigorously denounce the threats and reported plan to arrest Soyombo and shouldn’t be tools in the hands of politicians to harass, intimidate and arbitrarily arrest journalists simply for doing their job.
“The threats against Soyombo are unacceptable; they must be investigated and those responsible held accountable in order to protect responsible, investigative and independent journalism.”
Advocacy for Integrity and Economic Development (AIED) described the alleged move to arrest Soyombo as “nauseating” and “appalling”.
In a statement by its director of media and publicity, Comrade O’Seun John, the organisation accused the Federal Government of going against its anti-corruption stand and sliding into totalitarianism.
It said: “Mr. Fisayo is a national hero that puts himself in dangerous circumstances to protect whatever is left of the sanity of this country. Instead of having him fear for his life and that of his family, the Federal Government should be concentrating resources on arresting and prosecuting all those who have turned our institutions to barter.”
Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) said news of the planned arrest didn’t come as a surprise because “Nigeria is back to the dark ages of tyranny.” In a statement by its national coordinator, Emmanuel Onwubiko, the group said it condemned the “satanic agenda.”
Vice president of the Nigerian Guild of Editors (southwest), Mustapha Isah, said Soyombo should instead be applauded and given an award by the government, not intimidated or harassed.
The president, Lagos State chapter of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Dr. Rotimi Akinreti, said Soyombo had only assisted the government, presidency, police and the prison service. According to him, the report should help them to clean up.
He added: “Why would they want to arrest him? Let them look into the system and clean it up. It portrays Nigeria in a bad image. The only way is to ensure that we don’t have a repeat of horrendous and disgraceful service in the police and prisons. People have been alleging these ills, and Soyombo took a step further by doing a good report. The inspector-general should commend him for doing a good job.”
But Francis Enabore, the spokesman of the Nigerian Correctional Service, dismissed Soyombo’s report as packed with lies. He said the picture of drugs in bottles was a figment of the reporter’s imagination, accusing him of playing to the gallery. “For instance, he mentioned the name of one service personnel who is no longer in Lagos but is now a state controller in the southeast. I can sponsor your trip to the said facility to see things for yourself,” he said.
The Senate has granted approval to the ₦1.77 trillion ($2.2b) loan request of President Bola Tinubu after a voice vote in favor of the request.
The Senate presided by Deputy Senate President, Barau Jibrin, approved the loan after the Senate Committee on Local and Foreign Debts chaired by Senator Wammako Magatarkada (APC, Sokoto North) presented the report of the committee.
The request which was submitted by the President on Tuesday is part of a fresh external borrowing plan to partially finance the N9.7 trillion budget deficit for the 2024 fiscal year.
Tinubu had on Tuesday written to the National Assembly, seeking approval of a fresh N1.767 trillion, the equivalent of $2.209 billion as a new external borrowing plan in the 2024 Appropriation Act.
The fresh loan is expected to stretch the amount spent on debt servicing by the Federal Government. The Central Bank of Nigeria recently said that it cost the Federal Government $3.58 billion to service foreign debt in the first nine months of 2024.
The CBN report on international payment statistics showed that the amount represents a 39.77 per cent increase from the $2.56bn spent during the same period in 2023.
According to the report, while the highest monthly debt servicing payment in 2024 occurred in May, amounting to $854.37m, the highest monthly expenditure in 2023 was $641.70m, recorded in July.
The trend in foreign debt servicing by the CBN highlights the rising cost of debt obligations by Nigeria.
Further breakdown of international debt figures showed that in January 2024, debt servicing costs surged by 398.89 per cent, rising to $560.52m from $112.35m in January 2023. February, however, saw a slight decline of 1.84 per cent, with payments reducing from $288.54m in 2023 to $283.22m in 2024.
March recorded a 31.04 per cent drop in payments, falling to $276.17m from $400.47m in the same period last year. April saw a significant rise of 131.77 per cent, with $215.20m paid in 2024 compared to $92.85m in 2023.
The highest debt servicing payment occurred in May 2024, when $854.37m was spent, reflecting a 286.52 per cent increase compared to $221.05m in May 2023. June, on the other hand, saw a 6.51 per cent decline, with $50.82m paid in 2024, down from $54.36m in 2023.
July 2024 recorded a 15.48 per cent reduction, with payments dropping to $542.50m from $641.70m in July 2023. In August, there was another decline of 9.69 per cent, as $279.95m was paid compared to $309.96m in 2023. However, September 2024 saw a 17.49 per cent increase, with payments rising to $515.81m from $439.06m in the same month last year.
Given rising exchange rates, the data raises concerns about the growing pressure of Nigeria’s foreign debt obligations.
Channels TV
Self acclaimed leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Simon Ekpa, has been arrested by law enforcement in Finland.
The BBC reports that Ekpa was subsequently sent to prison by the district court of Päijät-Häme for “spreading terrorist propaganda on social media”.
Ekpa was said to have committed the crime in 2021 in Lahti municipality.
The Finnish National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) also arrested four other men over alleged terrorist offences.
A citizen of Finland and Nigeria, Ekpa has described himself as leader of the separatist IPOB group since Nnamdi Kanu’s incarceration.
Finnish police say Ekpa’s activities and social media rhetoric may have fanned the flames of violence in the south-east of Nigeria.
“He carries out these activities from his social media channels, for example,” said Otto Hiltunen, detective chief inspector of the NBI.
In February 2023, Ekpa was arrested by police at his residence in Lahti but was released after hours of questioning.
Using his social media channels, Ekpa had directed Igbos not to participate in Nigeria’s 2023 general election.
In September 2021, the Biafra agitator and secessionist denounced Nigeria and vowed to return the medal he won for the country at the 2003 African Junior Athletics Championships.
The Court of Appeal has sacked Musiliu Akinsanya aka MC Oluomo as the National President of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW).
In a ruling that upheld the earlier judgment of the National Industrial Court, the appellate court sacked MC Oluomo and reaffirmed Tajudeen Baruwa as the legitimate leader of the union.
Baruwa had assumed office after a properly conducted election held at the union’s headquarters in Abuja.
The three-member panel of the Appeal Court dismissed the appeal filed by MC Oluomo’s faction, declaring it devoid of merit.
In addition, the court imposed a fine of N100,000 on the appellants, further solidifying Baruwa’s leadership position.
Reports quoting court documents said to have been released on Friday detailed the ruling, which effectively countered any attempts to displace Baruwa from his role as the NURTW president.
The judgment read: “This is an appeal against the judgment/decision of the National Industrial Court Sitting in Abuja, in Suit No. NICN/ABJ/263/2023, delivered on the 11th March, 2024, by Justice O. O. Oyewumi.
“Upon reading the Record of Appeal compiled and transmitted before this court, together with the respective briefs of argument, and after hearing the counsels for the appellants and respondents, it is hereby ordered that:
“This Appeal is devoid of merit, and the same is hereby dismissed.”
The ruling reinforces the legitimacy of Baruwa’s presidency, concluding the legal dispute over the union’s leadership.
Meanwhile, MC Oluomo’s son Idowu Akinsanya (King West) had bragged about his feat of emerging the NURTW president, saying: “We are now in charge of Nigeria, not only Lagos,” a comment that attracted public opprobrium.
MC Oluomo, a diehard supporter of President Bola Tinubu and a prominent figure in Lagos politics, was the sole candidate in the election, which took place at the union’s zonal secretariat in Osogbo. His perceived victory was deemed to carry significant implications for the future of the NURTW and the political landscape of Nigeria.
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