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Daniel Ojukwu.
President Bola Tinubu has been called on to instruct the Inspector General Of Police to release Daniel Ojukwu, an Investigative Journalist with the Foundation for Investigative Journalism (FIJ) who was arrested more than a week ago.
The call was made by members of the 2023 GovSpend Media Fellowship, an initiative of BudgIT dedicated to promoting accountability and transparency in government expenditures, in a statement made available to newsmen.
The group, in which Daniel is also a member, expressed shock at his sudden disappearance on May 1, 2024, without any prior communication.
It states that the continued detention of Daniel Ojukwu, denial of legal representation and communication by the Intelligence Response Team of the Inspector General of Police (IGP) is unlawful and unacceptable as it violates the fundamental human rights enshrined in Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and several sections of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as Amended).
It describes as troubling the disregard of the constitution by authorities who swore to uphold it by subjecting Daniel to false imprisonment.
“These actions go against the purported image of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration, especially coming on the heels of World Press Freedom Day.
“‘Daniel Ojukwu’s investigative work, along with that of other GovSpend fellows, has been instrumental in uncovering corruption across various levels of government, potentially saving the federal government a significant amount of public funds; thus, the efforts to promote accountability and transparency in government expenditures should be commended, not persecuted.
“Findings revealed that Daniel Ojukwu’s abduction is connected to a recent investigative report conducted under BudgIT’s GovSpend Media Fellowship. The report, part of a series produced by 12 other fellows, exposed discrepancies in government expenditure and violations of the Procurement Acts in executing federal government projects in Lagos and Ogun States.
“Specifically, Daniel explored the data provided by the Federal Government on the National Open Treasury Portal to expose violations of the laws by the office of Adejoke Orelope-Adefulire, Senior Assistant to the President on Sustainable Development Goals (SSAP-SDGs).”
The group says that a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) and Former National Legal Adviser of the ruling All Progressives Congress(APC), submitted the petition which led to the abduction of Daniel Ojukwu by the Nigerian Police Force.
“Furthermore,we encourage the authorities to ease their unconstitutional actions and respect the rights of journalists and whistleblowers in Nigeria.We condemn this gross violation of human rights and all unjust actions targeted at journalists for their commitment to truth and transparency.”
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