‘I was Traumatised’ — Journalist Recounts Three-day Ordeal in Police Detention over Land Dispute Story

Azuka Ogujiuba, publisher of Media Room Hub, has narrated how she spent three days in police custody in Abuja, the nation’s capital, for publishing a report about a land dispute.

Speaking at a press conference in Lagos on Tuesday, Ogujiuba said she was kept without food for three days at the Asokoro police station.

Ogujiuba, a former journalist with THISDAY newspaper, said her journey into the detention started in July when she received an invitation letter from the office of the inspector-general of police (IGP) to appear at the force headquarters in Abuja over an alleged case of cyberbullying.

Ogujiuba said she was unable to honour the invitation but was accompanied to the force headquarters by her legal representative on August 6, which was the rescheduled date.

“At the police station, they (police officers) interrogated me. They said it was Adewale Oladapo (CEO of Oretol) that petitioned based on my report and that I was invited because of cyberbullying and defamation of character,” she said.

Ogujiuba said operatives showed her screenshots of a post published on Instagram by Media Room Hub as the reason for the cyberbullying allegations.

The publisher said in April her media platform published a court injunction in a land dispute involving Capital Gardens and Oretol Limited.

According to her, she was the only journalist held for the publication, while there are other platforms that published the court injunction.

After the questioning, she was granted an administrative bail.

THE DETENTION

Ogujiuba said two days after the questioning at force headquarters, some operatives invaded her location in Abuja and forcefully took her to the Asokoro police station.

“They (police officers) came after me, manhandled me, and dragged my phone. I was wondering what was going on,” she said.

“The person I came to interview in Abuja thought they were kidnappers. They were not wearing uniforms. I escaped for my life.

Ogujiuba said the police officers questioned her as to why she had not deleted the Instagram post.

The journalist said she informed her interrogators that Instagram suspended the handle, which prevented her from accessing the page.

“When they wanted to put me in the cell, I started begging them to allow me to call somebody in my family or my lawyer. They refused,” she said.

“When I wanted to use my phone to call, Ifeoma (a female police officer) came and snatched my phone from me.

“That is how I entered the cell. The cell was stinking and dirty. I was confused. They locked me up for three days without food.

“I was confused because I don’t know how the publication of a court injunction amounts to cyberbullying.”

Ogujiuba said she was forced to sign an apology and undertaking letter that the publication would be removed as conditions for her release on the third day.

She accused Adewale Oladapo, CEO of Oretol Limited, of using Josephine Ometere, a female operative, and other officers of the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) to harass her over the land dispute.

“I need justice. I have been in and out of hospital since I left the police station in Abuja,” she said.

“I’m speaking out because a lot of my colleagues in the past have been victims of things like this in the past. I was traumatised due to the detention.”

The journalist said she had filed a fundamental human rights suit against the police and the officers involved in her detention.