A senior Nigerian journalist, Madu Onuorah has been arrested by operatives of the Nigeria Police.
Onuorah, a former Managing Director of the AUTHORITY newspaper is the publisher of the Globalupfront, an Abuja based online newspaper.
A statement by the management of Globalupfront, said the operatives who drove in two unmarked Toyota Sienna mini-buses swooped on the residence of Onuorah in the Lugbe (Airport Road) area of Abuja and abducted him in the presence of his wife and children.
FACTSHEET checks revealed that several attempts by his wife and children to know why he was being taken away proved abortive as the operatives only brandished a paper, they claimed was a petition written against the senior journalist by an undisclosed entity.
Further checks by FACTSHEET indicate that the abducted journalist was being transported by road to Abakaliki, capital of Ebonyi State, by his abductors.
His phones have also been confiscated by his abductors.
The full statement issued by Globalupfront reads:
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 about 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 Globalupfront Newspapers states as follows:
That the Police should release Mr. Madu Onuorah immediately and unconditionally.
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.
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.
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.