SPECIAL REPORT: Under IGP Egbetokun, Nigerian Police became tool for hounding journalists

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When Kayode Egbetokun officially resigned as the Inspector-General of Police on 24 February, his successor, Olatunji Disu, was quick to pledge his commitment to human rights and the freedom of the press.

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Mr Disu’s pledge was a signal that he would depart from the human rights violations and press freedom abuses that characterised Mr Egbetokun’s tenure.

While Nigerians look out to see if Mr Disu will honour his pledge, the series of human rights violations under Mr Egbetokun continues to come under the spotlight.

One of such cases is the arrest and detention of a journalist and his family, including two underage children.

The Arrest In Anambra

On Sunday, 28 December 2025, personnel of the Otolo Nnewi police command in Anambra State arrested Jude Egbas, a deputy editor with TheCable, and detained him alongside his wife and two underage children.

Mr Egbas’ wife, Ogechukwu, and his kids, Munachukwu and Adela, aged 13 and 3, respectively, were detained for 10 hours until a bail of N150,000 was extorted from the journalist, TheCable reported.

The unlawful arrest of Mr Egbas and his family is one of many incidents of intimidation, arbitrary arrest, and harassment of journalists by the Nigeria Police Force under the tenure of Kayode Egbetokun as the Inspector General of Police (IGP).

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Appointed by President Bola Tinubu on 19 June 2023, Mr Egbetokun’s roughly 32 months in office were marked by a severe clampdown on the media in Nigeria, with the police frequently acting on the orders of state and non-state actors to crack down on critical reporting.

This systemic hostility took a heavy toll on Nigeria’s standing on the global media freedom stage. According to the World Press Freedom Index compiled by Reporters Without Borders (RSF), Nigeria ranked 123rd out of 180 countries in 2023. While it saw a brief, marginal shift to 112th in 2024, the country plunged back to 122nd in 2025, underscoring a rapidly deteriorating environment for independent journalism under the previous police leadership.

More telling than the ranking was the country’s press freedom score, which dropped significantly from 51.3 per cent in 2024 to a dismal 46.8 per cent in 2025. RSF specifically attributed this sharp decline to rising state hostility toward the media, noting that security indicators had worsened as the authorities increasingly relied on violence, arbitrary detentions, and the Cybercrime Act to silence investigative journalists.

Between his appointment and the recent announcement of his resignation on the 24th of February, 2026, at least 45 journalists and media professionals were attacked or unlawfully detained in at least 50 cases of violations verified and documented by the Press Attack Tracker across the country.

Weaponising the Cybercrime Act

Under Mr Egbetokun, the police frequently weaponised the Cybercrime (Prohibition and Prevention) Act (2024) to arrest and detain journalists arbitrarily. The police often relied on the repealed Section 24 of the Act. The police often used allegations of cyberstalking and defamation under the Cybercrime Act to justify the arrests of journalists, bypassing civil legal procedures.

On 1 May 2024, Daniel Ojukwu, a reporter with the Foundation for Investigative Journalism (FIJ), was abducted in Lagos by the Intelligence Response Team (IRT) of the Inspector-General of Police (IGP).

Mr Ojukwu was arrested without prior notice or invitation and held incommunicado at the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID), Panti, Lagos, for four days before being flown to the police National Cybercrime Centre in Abuja, where he spent an additional six days in detention before his release. He was released following a protest by journalists and activists at the police headquarters.

Mr Ojukwu was again harassed and threatened by police officers on the 29th of August 2025 when he went to meet with the Complaints Response Unit (CRU) of the Ikeja Police Command over a report that some policemen had extorted money from detainees.

Another FIJ reporter, Emmanuel Uti, was detained at the FCID Alagbon in January 2025 over a report on a N4 million Canada admission scam. The journalist was detained after honouring a police invitation over a story he authored in 2024.

Similarly, the police in Ekiti State summoned Sodeeq Atanda, a Lagos-based senior reporter with the platform.

In a letter dated 1 September 2025, the police summoned Mr Atanda following a petition by Abayomi Fasina, the vice-chancellor of the Federal University Oye-Ekiti (FUOYE), who complained of cyberbullying, blackmail, and criminal defamation.

According to a press statement by the Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development (CJID), the police and the complainant’s representative insisted that the journalist disclose his sources, an act that is not only against standard journalistic principles but also violates the privacy rights of the persons involved.

On 20 May 2025, officers of the Nigeria Police Force-National Cybercrime Centre (NPF-NCCC) summoned Nurudeen Akewushola, a reporter with the International Centre for Investigative Reporting (ICIR) and the centre’s Executive Director, Dayo Aiyetan, over a report published by The ICIR alleging that two former IGPs, Ibrahim Idris and Solomon Arase, were accused of receiving bribes for the award of an estate development contract.

Messrs Aiyetan and Akewushola were detained at the National Cybercrime Centre for over 9 hours before Mr Aiyetan was allowed to leave. Mr Akewuahsola was also released on bail at about the same time.

Female journalists, family members targeted

Not only were female journalists equally subject to various forms of attacks by the police like their male counterparts, but they were also subject to gender-specific attacks. Female journalists and their family members were not spared from police high-handedness.

On 16 January 2024, Kasarachi Aniagolu, a reporter with The Whistler, was assaulted, threatened, and detained by the Anti-Violence Crime Unit in Abuja for filming a police raid. The police subsequently paraded her as a criminal. In her account, Ms Aniagolu noted her gruesome experience in the hands of the police officers.

“I was groped by a female police officer who said I was a man pretending to be a woman,” she recounted.

Similarly, in March 2024, Bukky Shonibare, the chairperson of FIJ’s Board of Trustees, was grilled by the Police National Cybercrime Centre (NCC) and forced to promise to produce FIJ’s founder, Fisayo Soyombo. The NPF-NCCC had invited Ms Shonibare to an interview with its director to answer questions about cybercrime and seek clarification from FIJ about a case it was investigating. She was, however, held for several hours, asked questions that had nothing to do with her role as the board chair, and ultimately asked to provide Mr Soyombo.

“The investigator closed his iPad, put his hands on the table and said, well we need to speak to ‘Fisayo. You need to produce ‘Fisayo. So I said, if he said I need to produce ‘Fisayo, that sounds like you have tried to get ‘Fisayo or you’ve invited him and he did not come, so you need me, in whatever capacity, to go and produce him. So, I had to clarify that Fisayo was not on the run; it is not like they had invited him and he didn’t come. So, he asked when I could come with ‘Fisayo. I asked if he was inviting me again. He said, yes, but I had to return with ‘Fisayo,” Ms Shonibare recounted in a report by the FIJ.

In August 2025, Azuka Ogujiuba, publisher of the Media Room Hub, was arrested twice in Abuja for publishing a court injunction related to a disputed land sale. She was detained for three days, and the police seized her phone for five days to search through her communications.

The police also harassed the wife of WikkiTimes Editor, Yakubu Mohammed, in Bauchi State, over a report exposing terrorism funding and illegal mining in Niger State.

Commando-style arrests

The Egbetokun-era normalised commando-style raids on journalists’ homes.

On 22 May 2024, about ten fully armed police officers in two Sienna buses stormed the Lugbe residence of Madu Onuorah, the publisher and editor-in-chief of Globalupfront Newspaper in Abuja.

He was arrested in the presence of his wife and children, who fruitlessly demanded from the police why they were arresting the head of the family. He was subsequently rendered incommunicado as they seized his phones and other communication gadgets.

Mr Onuorah was released on bail the following day after spending several hours in police custody.

Similarly, in June 2025, Nurudeen Adegbenro, a journalist with Mainland 98.3 FM in Lagos, was whisked away from his Agege residence by seven armed police officers.

In October 2025, Zaccheaus Ukhueleigbe was arrested in Lagos after publishing an investigative report exposing how a federal lawmaker allegedly collected over N350 million for unexecuted constituency projects.

Attacks on Journalist Covering Protests

During the #EndBadGovernance protests in August 2024, police officers cracked down on journalists covering the demonstrations in various parts of the country.

In Abuja, police officers threw tear gas canisters directly at Mary Adeboye, a female camera operator with News Central TV, and Samuel Akpan, a senior reporter with TheCable. The canisters struck their legs, causing severe swelling.

On 8 April 2025, Charles Opurum of Channels TV was tear-gassed, arrested, and beaten up by a policeman before being bundled into a waiting van during a protest in Port Harcourt. His colleagues, Allwell Ene and Soibelemari Oruwari, were also attacked.

State Police Commands Used As Attack Dogs

Under Mr Egbetokun, police commands in states functioned as willing tools in the hands of state governors, heads of institutions and other powerful non-state actors who wanted to punish journalists for their reports.

In Kwara State, the Rector of Kwara State Polytechnic, Abdul Muhammed, ordered the repeated detention of investigative journalists Salihu Ayatullahi and Adisa-Jaji Azeez of The Informant247 and WikkiTimes.

In one of the incidents documented by the Press Attack Tracker, both journalists were detained over an investigation published by The Informant247 on 2 February 2024, alleging that the Kwara Polytechnic Rector made false claims about the institution’s financial status and commissioned shoddy, uncompleted projects.

In Kano, Mukhtar Dahiru, a staff member of Radio Nigeria, was remanded in a correctional facility in August 2024 for sharing Facebook content critical of Governor Abba Yusuf.

In October 2025, another journalist, Ibrahim Rano, was detained following a petition by the governor’s protocol director.

The trend continued until the end of the IGP’s tenure. On 16 February 2026, the police in Niger State detained Ahmed Sakpe of Prestige FM over alleged cyberbullying of a state official, mirroring the April 2025 detention of Yakubu Bina, the state’s Correspondents’ Chapel chairman.

IPI Blacklists Egbetokun, Others

On 2 December 2025, during its Annual General Meeting in Abuja, the International Press Institute (IPI) Nigeria officially blacklisted Mr Egbetokun, alongside Niger State Governor Mohammed Bago and Akwa Ibom Governor Umo Eno, entering their names into its newly launched “Nigeria Book of Infamy.”

The registry was designed as a permanent public record to document public officials who suppress journalists and interfere with constitutionally guaranteed rights, including the freedom of the press.

Announcing the entries in the presence of Vice President Kashim Shettima, IPI Nigeria President Musikilu Mojeed stated that Mr Egbetokun was added to the list for failing to curb the systemic media repression perpetrated by his officers nationwide. Mr Mojeed noted that despite multiple calls, formal letters—including one sent to the IGP on 30 September 2025—and engagements with the Force Headquarters, the harassment of journalists continued unabated.

“For failing to uphold his constitutional duties and allowing systematic media oppression, Inspector General Kayode Egbetokun is hereby listed,” Mr Mojeed declared.

Although Vice President Shettima pleaded for a two-week grace period at the event, promising to discuss the matter with Mr Egbetokun, the police hierarchy took no visible corrective action.

READ ALSO: IPI Nigeria to FG: Stop states, security agencies from harassing journalists

Egbetokun Forced to Resign

The blacklisting of the former IGP by the International Press Institute (IPI) proved to be the final straw for a presidency already battling public relations nightmares. Sources within the presidency told PREMIUM TIMES that the Bola Tinubu administration felt deeply embarrassed by the IPI blacklist.

President Tinubu reportedly instructed the former police boss to resolve the matter by halting the attacks on journalists immediately. Mr Egbetokun’s failure to heed this directive and rein in his operatives ultimately contributed to his exit.

On 24 February 2026, President Tinubu asked Mr Egbetokun to resign, cutting short a controversial tenure that had recently been extended by an amendment to the Police Act. He was immediately replaced by Tunji Disu as the acting Inspector-General of Police.

Since stepping into the role, Mr Disu has publicly sought to distance the force from the dark legacy of his predecessor, signalling a commitment to press freedom and an end to media harassment.

On Saturday, 14 March, Mr Disu took a major step toward rebuilding trust by attending the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) FCT Council Congress in Abuja. During the interactive session, the new police chief praised the media’s role in shaping public discourse and explicitly promised a paradigm shift in how the police engage with reporters.

“I have always had a respectful and mutually beneficial relationship with journalists,” Mr Disu stated during his address to the union. “They are professionals who deserve respect and should never be treated as beggars. I have worked with journalists, and I say it with all my heart that you are professionals.”