Madu Onuorah, Publisher and Editor-in-Chief of the Globalupfront Newspaper (Online) and pioneer Managing Director of The Authority Newspaper, has been abducted by the police from his home in the Lugbe area of Abuja.
The management of the online news platform, in a statement on Thursday, said Mr Onuorah was whisked away at about 6 p.m. on Wednesday in the presence of his wife and children.
He was taken away by “stern looking operatives,” according to the management of the news platform.
It further said Mr Onuorah was neither shown an arrest warrant nor told the reason behind his arrest upon request from the family. He was also denied contact with his lawyer.
“About ten fully-armed policemen stormed his residence in Lugbe, Abuja, in two Sienna buses.
“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.
“The police have seized Mr. Onuorah’s phones, thereby completely cutting him off from communication with people, including his family members.
“He was not even allowed to contact his lawyer or any of his relations before he was whisked away to the Lugbe police station by the stern looking operatives, ” the statement said.
When contacted, the Spokesperson of the FCT Police Command, Josephine Adeh, lsaid it was not the command that arrested Mr Onuorah but that of Ebonyi State.
“Yes, but FCT did not arrest him, it was Ebonyi State Police Command, So contact FPRO,” Ms Adeh told PREMIUM TIMES.
Mr Onuorah’s arrest comes few months after a former General Editor of First Mail, Segun Olatunji, was similarly abducted from his Lagos home by the military. He was released after about three weeks.
PREMIUM TIMES also reported how an FIJ journalist was picked up by the police and held incommunicado for some days.
He was eventually released on May, after a protest organised by a coalition of Nigerian Civil Society organisations (CSOs) and journalists in Abuja.
Read the full statement by Globalupfront Newspaper.
Police abduct another Editor in Abuja
*Picked in the presence of his wife, children
*Showed no Warrant for his arrest, nor disclose his offence
Nigerian Journalism once again came under attack on Wednesday, 22/5/2024 as the Publisher and Editor-in-Chief of the Globalupfront Newspaper (Online), Mr. Madu Onuorah was whisked away by men of the Nigerian Police Force at anout 6pm.
About ten fully-armed policemen stormed his residence in Lugbe, Abuja, in two Sienna buses.
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.
The police have seized Mr. Onuorah’s phones, thereby completely cutting him off from communication with people, including his family members.
He was not even allowed to contact his lawyer or any of his relations before he was whisked away to the Lugbe police station by the stern looking operatives.
To make sure Mr. Onuorah did not get attention or bail, the policemen who arrested him, though not of the Lugbe Police Station, simply dumped him at the Station and left no traces for friends and family members to reach them.
The Management of Global-upfront Newspapers states as follows:
1. That the Police should release Mr. Madu Onuorah immediately and unconditionally.
2. That Mr. Onuorah is an experienced Journalist, former Abuja Bureau Chief of The Guardian Newspaper, former Managing-Director of The AUTHORITY Newspaper, who operates within the ambit of the law.
3. That anybody who has any issue against Mr. Onuorah should approach the law court and not turn the Nigerian Police into a Gestapo outfit that bullies a man in the presence of his wife and children.
4. That any second Mr. Onuorah spends in police custody constitutes a serious infringement against his fundamental rights and a continuation of the assault on freedom of expression that has become frequent occurrence in Nigeria recently.
Signed:
Management, Globalupfront Newspapers (Online)
23/5/2024.
CC:
The Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ),
Media Houses.
Guild of Editors.
