By Peter Omopo
The Nigeria Police Force has released Adenike Atanda, wife of senior investigative journalist with the Foundation for Investigative Journalism (FIJ), Sodeeq Atanda, following her detention alongside the couple’s nine-month-old baby at a divisional police headquarters in the Owutu area of Ikorodu, Lagos State.
FIJ confirmed that Adenike and the infant were released on Monday evening, shortly after police operatives arrested Sodeeq Atanda. The journalist was later freed on the directive of the Inspector-General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun.
According to FIJ, Adenike and her baby were initially taken to a police station in Owutu, where they were allegedly detained for several hours in an attempt to compel Atanda to submit himself to arrest.
In a publication on Tuesday, FIJ quoted Adenike as saying she was instructed by the police to contact her husband and inform him that their child was ill and had been taken to the hospital.
“When they realised my husband was no longer far from the house, the policemen drove my baby and me to a street not far from our home. When they saw him, they handcuffed him and took him away. That was when they released my baby and me,” she said.
FIJ stated that Atanda was subsequently taken to the Force Headquarters Annexe in Obalende, Lagos, where he was detained for several hours before being released shortly before midnight.
The organisation linked the incident to an earlier attempt by the police to invite the journalist for questioning. FIJ said that on November 26, a person identified as “Omo Eleniyan,” who claimed to be attached to the Inspector-General of Police Monitoring Unit, contacted Atanda via WhatsApp, stating that an approved petition had been referred for investigation and that Atanda’s name had been mentioned.
FIJ said Atanda requested that any formal invitation be sent through the organisation’s official email address, but the sender insisted the invitation was personal and not for the media organisation. No further communication was reportedly received until Monday evening, when Adenike and the infant were detained.
Reacting to the incident, the Force Public Relations Officer, CSP Benjamin Hundeyin, said the Inspector-General of Police, upon being informed, expressed displeasure over the development and ordered the immediate release of the journalist.
Hundeyin said the IGP was particularly upset that the incident occurred at a time the police were taking concrete steps to support press freedom. He added that the head of the unit involved had been ordered to be sanctioned for the conduct.
“The IGP does not want and would not condone any setback to our support for press freedom,” Hundeyin said.
