Police detain Nigerian journalist over report on politician

The National Assembly division of the Nigerian Police Force has reportedly detained Oke Epia, Editor in Chief of Order Paper.

Mr Epia, who honoured a police invitation over an alleged false publication by the news media, was seen at the presidential gate police station being interrogated by detectives on Tuesday afternoon.

Order Paper also confirmed that Mr Epia was being detained.

Our Executive Director, who respectfully went to honour the police invitation, is currently detained by the National Assembly @PoliceNG on trumped-up charges filed by @tonynwulu. We want to alert the everyone to this attempt by @PoliceNG and @tonynwulu to intimidate the media.

— OrderPaper (@OrderPaper) July 30, 2019

The police had invited Mr Epia over what it described as ‘criminal complaint’ lodged against the journalist.

The invitation was based on a complaint by Tony Nwulu, a former member of the House of Representatives.

The relationship with the former legislator started after a publication before the 2019 general elections. The social media post profiled Rep members vying for either governorship or deputy governorship positions.

In profiling Mr Nwulu, Order Paper said it reached out to the lawmaker to account for “missing funds and projects for Zonal Intervention Projects in the 2016 budget, a claim he is yet to respond to.”

In his reaction on Twitter, Mr Nwulu branded the newspaper as fake, alleging that it never assessed his stewardship.

“Fake medium. No sensible person should take you guys serious. Tribal bigots. At least your faceless promoters should try running for office and effect the change they desire and not just being pathetic armchair critics hiding under a useless medium to extort,” he tweeted on his handle @tonynwulu.

Mr Nwulu later told PREMIUM TIMES that he diid not threaten the journalist but only reported him to the police for alleged falsehood.

“The invitation from the police, yes,I did (reported him) because he needs to come and prove. And then I’ve not done any other thing than file charges against him. I want him to come and prove what he has said,” the former lawmaker said in a telephone interview.

JOURNALISTS REACT

The Coalition for Whistleblowers Protection and Press Freedom condemned what it described as an attack and harassment on one of its members.

The coalition referred to the threats to the staff of OrderPaper and Mr Epia. It said it considers the lawmaker’s actions as a breach of the constitutional rights that allow journalists to do their lawful work.

The statement was jointly signed by Premium Times, Sahara Reporters, OrderPaper, The Cable, Daily Trust Newspaper, International Centre for Investigative Reporting, Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism and Premium Times Centre for Investigative Journalism.

Other signatories are African Centre for Media & Information Literacy (AFRICMIL), Civic Media Lab, Civil Society Network Against Corruption (CSNAC), International Centre for Investigative Reporting (ICIR), International Press Centre (IPC), Media Rights Agenda (MRA), Nigeria Union of Journalist (NUJ), Paradigm Initiative, Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) and HEDA Resources Centre.

The coalition advised Mr Nwulu to desist from further threats or face legal action.