DSS detains media activist at Lagos Airport

The Executive Director of the International Press Institute based in Lagos, Mr Lanre Arogundade a media activist, has been arrested by officials of the Department of State Security, DSS.

Arogundade who was also a former President of the National Association of Nigerian Students, NANS  was arrested on arriving at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport on Thursday.

“He left Nigeria for Gambia on January 30, 2022, to train Gambian journalists on sensitive reporting with the United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) and upon his return, they flagged his passport and may have deactivated it as they did to human rights activist, Omoyele Sowore,” a source revealed.

Speaking on the arrest, Arogundade’s lawyer, Olumide Fusika, said, “I’m in touch with him. It’s seeming like that, like Sowore’s. His citizenship of Nigeria has been cancelled by the Department of State Services.”

Read Also:55 journalists killed in 2021– UNESCO

Confirming the detention, Arogundade wrote on Facebook, “This is me at the DSS office at International Airport Lagos where I’m being held or detained against my wish. I have just returned from Banjul where I went to train Gambian journalists on Conflict sensitive journalism. Ever since the days of military rule I get molested by DSS and Immigration at the airport. This nonsense has to stop!”

#Breaking: On 30 Jan, @lanreipc, Executive Director of @IPCng, travelled to The Gambia as expert trainer for @UNESCO in Gambia on conflict reporting. On returning to Lagos moments ago, #SSS flagged him & @nigimmigration has just arrested & detained him as prohibited immigrant?! pic.twitter.com/J1C0FVQjgb

— Chidi Odinkalu, CGoF (@ChidiOdinkalu) February 10, 2022

Arogundade is one of the vocal voices against the Muhammadu Buhari-led Nigerian government in the recent past, especially on the issues of the electoral bill and the Twitter ban.

His organisation and others had only weeks ago made a call on the National Assembly to prioritise the conclusion of the Electoral Bill during the legislators’ first sitting when it resumed from recess.

Read Also:DSS operatives seize photojournalist’s phone over detained Igboho’s aides

In Abuja at a news conference tagged: “Civil Society Statement on the need for the National Assembly to Act with Dispatch on the Electoral Bill on Resumption from Recess,” Arogundade and others such as Yiaga Africa, Centre for Citizens with Disability (CCD), The Albino Foundation, CLEEN Foundation, Institute for Media and Society (IMS), and Nigerian Women Trust Fund (NWTF), had made the call.

Meanwhile, the IPC, in a post on Twitter confirmed Arogundade’s release, adding that his passport has been returned to him.
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