The Federal Capital Territory Police Command has said that Cross River State born activist and journalist, Agba Jalingo is currently in its custody.

Recall that Agba Jalingo on Friday afternoon, raised the alarm that his Lagos residence was under siege by police operatives.

Subsequent reports revealed that the activist was arrested and detained at Alapere Police Station, Lagos shortly after the alarm before he was moved to Area “F” police station, Ikeja.

Confirming the arrest, the FCT police command, in a statement issued by its spokesperson, DSP Josephine Adeh, said the arrest was sequel to a petition filed against the activist by one Elizabeth Frank Ayinde.

She said Agba was arrested by Lagos State CID over a false allegation, claiming that Elizabeth paid one Mr. Pascal to write an examination for her at the law school.

She said the activist, who was moved to Abuja on Saturday, is currently being investigated by the command.

“Upon the receipt of this petition, we went ahead to invite Mr. Agba Jalingo, but he refused to come, leaving the police with no option but to secure an arrest warrant, which is why he was arrested in Lagos.

“The investigation is currently ongoing and the unraveled facts will be communicated subsequently”, the PPRO added.

Sowore Explains

Earlier, the Publisher of Sahara Reporters and presidential candidate of the African Alliance Congress (AAC), Omoyele Sowore, had explained that “Agba Jalingo is being detained, accused of raising concerns over the prosecution of a lecturer hired by the wife of Franco Ayade, the younger brother of the Calabar-based tyrant, Governor @Ben Ayade.

“According to the sources, his wife, Mrs. Elizabeth Alami Ayade, failed Law School Bar examination and then hired a university lecturer to write it for her a second time.

“The lecturer was caught and is being prosecuted (as I was told).

“As a journalist, public conscience and social critic, Agba Jalingo questioned why the woman is who procured the lecturer hadn’t been apprehended.

“Instead of swinging into action, the police was procured for a fee to kidnap Agba Jalingo from Lagos, a team of policemen led by one SP Danbaba M Alura led the team from CID Garki, Abuja and flew into Lagos to kidnap journalist Jalingo”, Sowore said.

Calls for Release of Agba Jalingo

There has been several calls for the immediate release of journalist Agba Jalingo by individuals and organisations, including the Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Femi Falana; the International Press Centre (IPC), Lagos-Nigeria, among others.

IPC Executive Director, Lanre Arogundade in the statement condemned the arrest; noting that detaining a reporter for doing his/her job amounts to nothing but abuse of power and gross violation of fundamental human rights.

He also condemned the fact that this is not the first time Jalingo is being detained, as this was the case in 2019 when a similar arrest led to his detention for over 140 days over spurious terrorism charges.

On his part, Femi Falana (SAN), in a statement said that “Yesterday, a team of the police personnel despatched from Abuja stormed the home of Agba Jalingo at Alapere, Ketu in Lagos State to arrest him. After subjecting his wife and children to unwarranted harassment for hours, the police arrested Agba, yanked him out and took him to the Area F Police Command, Ikeja, Lagos State where he was detained until this morning.

“I met him at the police station where he informed me that he committed no offence but that his newspaper, CrossRiverWatch had only asked why a lecturer who wrote examinations for a student in the Nigerian Law School, Abuja has been arraigned in court while the student is being treated like a sacred cow.

“The police officers corroborated his account and stated that the petitioner had alleged that Agba Jalingo had committed “defamation and infringement of his integrity”, which is not an offence under any provision of the Criminal Code.

“Based on the information at my disposal, I was compelled to demand for his unconditional release since he has contravened any provision of the Criminal Code.

“But the police officers informed me that his detention was ordered by the Authorities in Abuja. Thus, at about 11 am this morning he was flown out of Lagos and he is currently being detained at the Criminal Investigation Department, Garki, Abuja.

“The ongoing harassment of Agba based on the allegation that he has defamed the wife of the brother of a serving Governor is the height of official impunity in a democratic society.

“Since defamation is not a criminal offence the action of the Police is a flagrant breach of section 8(2) of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, 2015 and section 32(2) of the Police Establishment Act 2020 which have banned the police from arresting any person in Nigeria for civil wrong or breach of contract”, Falana said.

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