The Human Rights Journalists Network Nigeria (HRJN) has condemned the arbitrary arrest of investigative journalist Stanley Ugabe, who was forcibly taken by unidentified armed men in Abuja on Wednesday.
HRJN also demands the immediate and safe release of Stanley, and that the authorities must identify, arrest, and prosecute the armed men who carried out his arreest to prove that the state is not complicit in silencing the press.
HRJN, in a press release signed by its Executive Director, Kehinde Adegboyega, said the abduction of Ugabe follows the publication of a multi-part investigative report by SecretsReporters, detailing severe allegations of corruption and multi-billion naira overseas asset non-disclosure involving the Deputy Governor (Operations) of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mrs. Emem Nnaniong Usoro.
HRJN described the abduction as a direct, state-sanctioned or state-tolerated assault on press freedom, whistleblower protection, and the constitutional right of journalists to hold public officers accountable.
The statement reads in part that “The timing of his abduction, coming immediately after exposing a ₦3.6 billion luxury property in Los Angeles linked to a high-ranking apex bank official, points to a coordinated attempt to silence investigative journalism and bury public interest reporting.
“We are deeply alarmed by the growing trend of using armed state operatives or unidentified gunmen to abduct, harass, and intimidate journalists who expose official corruption,” said Adegboyega.
He buttressed that “Stanley’s only crime was doing his job as an investigative reporter and bringing transparency to the management of our public institutions. His violent abduction in the nation’s capital on Wednesday is a stain on Nigeria’s democracy.”
Under the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, the media is mandated to hold the government and its officials accountable to the public. If public officials feel aggrieved by media reports, the lawful recourse is through the courts or public clarifications, not the deployment of armed men to kidnap journalists from their homes or offices.
The group also demanded that the Federal Government put an end to the ongoing hostility, arbitrary arrests, and Gestapo-style crackdowns on journalists under the guise of the Cybercrimes Act or administrative intimidation.
