The International Press Centre, Lagos, has condemned the continued detention of Mr Tom Oga, Publisher of Power Steering Magazine, as the organisation asked the police to charge him to a competent court or release him.
The IPC decried the arrest without trial of Oga who has been in police detention for 14 days.
SaharaReporters had published how the police arrested and detained Oga on the orders of Jeddy Agba, Minister of State for Power, over an allegation of defamation.
Oga was arrested on October 13, 2020 at about 5:00pm by operatives of the Nigeria Police Force led by CSP Ibrahim, detectives Usman, Daniel and Elijah on the instructions of the Minister of State for Power, and he has not been allowed access to his lawyers in the past days.
IPC Executive Director, Lanre Arogundade, described the situation of the journalist as a slap on the profession.
He stated that anybody not pleased with reports published should seek redress in court rather than intimidate media practitioners.
“The arrest and continued detention of Oga without trial is a slap on the journalism profession and the rule of law. If anyone has any issues with certain published allegations, the appropriate place to seek redress is the law court,” Arogundade said.
He added that in view of popular clamour for police reforms, the Inspector-General of Police should step into the matter to ensure that due process was followed instead of recourse to self-help.
