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Akinwande Soji-Ojo
A reporter with Foundation of Investigative Journalism (FIJ), Daniel Ojukwu, has reportedly been arrested and detained by the police over allegations bordering on “cybercrime.”
The management of FIJ said Ojukwu went missing on May 1, while his numbers were not reachable as family and friends struggled to reach him.
FIJ said a private investigator it employed tracked Ojukwu’s devices to his last active in Isheri Olofin, Alimosho Local Government Area, adding that the area was the place where the police arrested the journalist.
The foundation revealed that Ojukwu’s family discovered he is being held by the men of the Intelligence Response Team (IRT) of the Inspector-General of Police (IGP) at the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID), in Panti area of Lagos.
The medium claimed that the journalist is being held for an alleged violation of the 2015 Cybercrime Act.
Fisayo Soyombo, FIJ founder, said he suspects that Ojukwu was arrested over an investigative story he reported in November 2023.
Ojukwu had reported that the office of the senior special assistant to the president on sustainable development goals (OSSAP-SDGs) awarded a contract for the construction of one skill acquisition centre and one block of six classrooms at Ajeromi Primary School in Lagos at the cost of N147 million.
According to the report, the fund for the contract was paid into the “account of a restaurant,” while the project was not situated in its designated location.
The report revealed that the skill acquisition centre was constructed in Ladi-Lak Nursery and Primary School at 2, Randle Road, Apapa, and the block of six classrooms in Metropolitan Nursery and Primary School, Adekunle Deen Street, Off Mile 2–Ijora Expressway, Ijora.
However, attempts to obtain contact details for the Investigating Police Officer, according to FIJ, have been unsuccessful, with authorities citing jurisdictional issues as the case extends beyond Lagos.
According to a relative who visited the reporter, the officers indicated that once they finish arresting other individuals on their watch list in Lagos, Ojukwu and others will be transferred to Abuja
This is not the first time FIJ would be having issues with the police.
Earlier in March, Bukky Shonibare, FIJ’s Board of Trustees chairman, was grilled at the Nigeria Police Force National Cybercrime Centre in Abuja regarding FIJ’s reporting on financial mismanagement.