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Soyombo Goes into Hiding as Plot to Arrest Journalist Thickens
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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.
Former Vice President and African Democratic Congress presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, has said President Bola Tinubu’s request for approval to borrow $20.52 billion and €1.045 billion vindicates his October 12 warning about a loan plan of up to $20 billion.
Atiku said the President’s failure to identify the specific projects the loans would fund raises serious concerns that borrowed public money could be channelled through the Lagos–Calabar Coastal Highway, now rerouted inland, to political campaigners and favoured contractors.
In a statement issued by Phrank Shaibu, Director of Strategic Communication of the ADC Presidential Campaign Council, Atiku said:
“On October 12, I warned Nigerians that President Tinubu was reportedly preparing to borrow up to $20 billion in connection with the Lagos–Calabar Coastal Highway. I asked him to confirm or deny the plan and publish the accounts. He did neither. Today, he has asked the Senate to approve $20.52 billion and €1.045 billion in external loans. My warning has been vindicated.
“The President has listed broad sectors but has not provided a project by project account of what this enormous borrowing will fund. Nigerians have not been given clear project details, costs, locations or contractors to scrutinise.
“That silence is especially troubling given the highway’s inland rerouting. Nigerians have every right to ask whether it is becoming a pipeline for borrowed money to reach Tinubu’s campaigners and favoured contractors. Barely 12 weeks before an election, how can the President ask lawmakers to saddle Nigerians with more than $20 billion and €1 billion in debt without identifying the projects and their costs? Is this a development plan for Nigerians or a campaign financing scheme dressed up as infrastructure?
“You cannot continue taking frivolous loans on the eve of your departure from office. Let it be on record that one of the first responsibilities I will undertake as President is to scrutinise and investigate every kobo borrowed, especially loans taken in the final year of your tenure. Nigerians will ask questions, and we will find the answers by every lawful means.
“I put local and international lenders on notice: any loan granted to this winding down administration must meet all constitutional, statutory and due process requirements. Upon assumption of office, I will scrutinise every such loan. Any borrowing found to have been obtained without proper authorisation or process will be challenged and will not be allowed to stand.
“The National Assembly must not approve a single dollar until the President publishes every project, contract, cost, contractor, loan term and repayment obligation. No public money should be borrowed in the dark, and no lawmaker should sign a blank cheque against Nigeria’s future.”
Atiku said the burden was on Tinubu to prove that the borrowing would serve the country, not his political interests. He urged lawmakers to publish the proposal and supporting documents and subject them to rigorous scrutiny before any decision.
He added that families already struggling with a cost of living crisis should not be made to carry debts they did not approve. The woman fighting to keep her business alive and the worker spending their income just to feed deserve to know where the money is going, who will benefit and who will pay. At the ballot box, Nigerians will have the chance to reject a government that borrows against their future while taking their sacrifices for granted.
The Allied Peoples Movement (APM) presidential candidate, Seyi Makinde, on Thursday, criticised President Bola Tinubu’s “Emi Lokan” slogan ahead of the 2027 presidential election.
Makinde said Nigerians do not need “turn-by-turn nepotism”, arguing that voters should be free to decide who becomes the country’s next president in 2027.
The Oyo State governor spoke during the APM’s town hall meeting in Akure, Ondo State.
Makinde asked: “How can someone say ‘Eemi lokan’ in a country like Nigeria? You were given the opportunity. If you recall the 1999 presidential election, the South-West voted massively for Baba Olu Falae, but the rest of Nigerians voted for Baba Obasanjo. So, this is not an issue that only the South-West can resolve; it is an issue we must address collectively as Nigerians.
“We do not want ‘turn-by-turn nepotism’, nor do we want a situation where people say, ‘I will vote for projects because it is my turn’. You will not finish those projects, and when it becomes someone else’s turn, they will do the same thing. We will end up with a Nigeria where we cannot get value for the resources belonging to Nigerians.
“The Reset Nigeria agenda is about building a country where infrastructure development supports economic growth and addresses the concerns of young people and women.
“Once we fix our economy, no zone will be left behind, and no demographic group will be left behind.”
Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Taiwo Oyedele, has denied saying the Federal government will introduce a fuel tax when the economy stabilises and income levels improve.
In a post on X on Tuesday, Oyedele said his remarks during an interview with ARISE News was misrepresented, insisting that a “fuel tax is not on the table.”
However, during the interview with Rotus Odiri, ARISE News Business Correspondent, on the sidelines of the 2026 International Monetary Fund and World Bank annual meetings in Bangkok, Thailand, Oyedele said the tax would come when income levels improve enough for Nigerians to accommodate it.
He said taxes account for between 20 and 80 percent of pump prices in some countries, while many African countries impose between six and 10 different taxes on fuel products.
He said introducing fuel tax while petrol was still subsidised would have been counterproductive because government would effectively be paying the tax itself.
According to him, imposing the tax immediately after removal of petrol subsidy would be insensitive to Nigerians.
“The objective should be that instead of trying to suppress prices, which hasn’t worked for us, it hasn’t worked for any country in the world, not one. Instead of trying to suppress prices, think about how to grow income faster than prices rise,” Oyedele said.
“That’s how you bring prosperity and grow the middle class and that is exactly what we are doing as led by Mr. President himself.
“At the appropriate time, when the economy has stabilizes and income level will be able to accommodate it, those taxes will come. Not because we want to impose taxes,” he added.
In his Tuesday post, the minister reiterated that introducing a fuel tax at this time would be insensitive following removal of petrol subsidy, describing reports that government will introduce the levy when the economy stabilises as “fake news.”
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