Nigerian journalist Madu Onuorah arrested for alleged defamation and released on bail

Lina PortmanMay 25, 2024

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Madu Onuorah, publisher and editor-in-chief of Global Upfront Newspapers, told CPJ that he was arrested on May 22 at his home in the Lugbe district of Abuja, Nigeria's capital. His image can be seen here in a May 23 globalupfront.com report on his arrest. (Screenshot: CPJ)

New York, May 24, 2024 — Nigerian authorities should drop their investigation into journalist Madu Onuorah and stop arresting journalists in connection with their work, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Friday.

Armed police officers from Enugu and Ebonyi states in eastern Nigeria arrested Onuorah, publisher and editor-in-chief of Global Upfront Newspapers, at his home in Lugbe district of the capital Abuja on Wednesday evening from Nigeria, according to information from its media. press release, and Onuorah, who spoke by telephone to CPJ on Thursday while in custody in Enugu City, the capital of Enugu State, more than 250 miles away by road from Abuja.

Onuorah told CPJ that police tricked her 10-year-old daughter into opening the gate to her house, then “came in with weapons, threatening me.” The officers then took him to a local police station in Abuja until 5 a.m. on Thursday, then drove him nine hours south to Abakaliki, the Ebonyi state capital. , then to Enugu, said Onuorah.

Onuorah was arrested after the Enugu police received a written petition alleging defamation in a report concerning a Catholic reverend sister based in the United States, according to a statement from the police, Onuorah, and Onuorah's lawyer, Ifeanyi Odo, who also spoke to CPJ by telephone. Reached by telephone on Thursday, the reverend sister directed CPJ to her lawyer. When contacted by CPJ by telephone on Friday, he declined to comment officially on the matter.

After his release on bail Thursday evening, Onuorah told CPJ that no charges had been filed against him, but that he had made a statement to police and that a police investigation into him was underway. Odo told CPJ that he and Onuorah met with police and a lawyer representing the Reverend Sister on Friday morning and that Onuorah was free to return to Abuja, but that the journalist was scheduled to return to Enugu to meet with police in two weeks.

“Nigerian authorities should drop their investigation into journalist Madu Onuorah and reform the country's laws to ensure that journalists are not detained for their work,” said Angela Quintal, CPJ's Africa program manager, in Maputo. in Mozambique. “Nigerian security forces appear to be making a habit of arresting journalists without warning and then transporting them across the country. This is an alarming trend that must be reversed.”

Ebonyi police spokesperson Joshua Ukandu confirmed by telephone to CPJ that Ebonyi state officers assisted in the arrest, but directed questions to Ebonyi police. Enugu.

Enugu police spokesperson Daniel Ndukwe told CPJ in a statement shared via the messaging app that Onuorah was “arrested in Abuja with the assistance of police operatives from the Enugu Police Command. 'Ebonyi State and intelligence assistance, after efforts to formally invite him failed'.

Onuorah told CPJ that he was not aware of any attempt by police to summon him for questioning, adding that he had not received a warrant for his arrest.

CPJ sent additional questions to Ndukwe but did not receive an immediate response. A follow-up call was answered but later disconnected. On Friday, another call went unanswered.

Local media groups including the Federal Capital Territory chapter of the Nigeria Union of Journalists, Media Rights Agenda and the Lagos State-based organisation. International press centercondemned Onuorah's arrest.

Earlier this year, Nigerian security forces separately arrested journalists Segun Olatunji and Daniel Ojukwu in Lagos State without notice and then transported them to Abuja.

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collision Detained Global Upfront Newspapers incident report International Press Center investigation legal action Madu Onuorah Media Rights Agenda Nigerian Union of Journalists public safety report