Committee to Protect Journalists, CPJ, has condemned the re-arrest of the Publisher / Editor-in -Chief ë the Weekly Source, Jones Abiri.
CPJ alleged that Abiri’s re-arrest was a ploy to harass and intimidate the press.
Abiri was yesterday, arraigned by a Federal High Court under Cybercrimes and Terrorism acts; Anti-sabotage act, and Terrorism Prevention Act for crimes allegedly carried out in 2016. The court ordered that Abiri be detained.
Abiri’s lawyer, Samuel Ogala, said that the charges match accusations made against Abiri in 2016, when the Department of State Security, DSS, detained him for two years without trial and without access to his family or a lawyer which CPJ said it confirmed through its research.
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However, CPJ described the re-arrest of Abiri as a brazen willingness of the Federal Government of Nigeria to oppress the press. It therefore called for his unconditional release.
CPJ’s Africa Programme Coordinator, Angela Quintal, who made the call in Durban, South Africa, decried the harassment of journalists in Nigeria.
She said, “The re-arrest of Jones Abiri showcases once again the brazen willingness of the Nigerian government to intimidate and harass the press,”
“Nigerian authorities should immediately release Jones Abiri and permit him to continue his work without fear of retaliation.”
