….Condemns the Killing of 17 Soldiers in Delta State

A human rights activists, Comrade Adeniyi Alimi Sulaiman has called on the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to order the unconditional release of the Editor, FirstNews Online Newspaper, Mr. Segun Olatunji, who is suspected to have been illegally arrest and detained by men of Nigerian armed forces.

It would be recalled that Olatunji, who is Editor, FirstNews an online newspaper and former Kaduna Bureau Chief of The PUNCH, was reportedly abducted from his home in Iyana Odo, Abule Egba area of Lagos State penultimate Friday by gunmen that dressed in a military uniforms.

Comrade Sulaiman, who is the Executive Chairman of the Centre for Human Rights and Social Justice (CHRSJ), described the alleged arrest of the Editor as barbaric, undemocratic, unconstitutional, illegal, evil, uncalled for and crime against God and humanity, calling on all lovers of freedom of speech and democracy “to rise up in defence of ethos of democractic experiment by strongly condemning the undemocratic and unconstitutional act of the men of Nigeria Armed Forces.”

Describing the abductors of Olatunji as enemies of democracy, he urged President Bola Tinubu to treat them as such, adding that “they just wanted to tag Tinubu’s government as enemy of Nigeria media.”

The pro-democracy activist also described Olatunji as a thorough bred Media practitioner who has paid his due by sacrificing and as well contributed immensely in the struggle for returning of the country to the current democracy by using his pen to team up with other other members of fourth estate of realm and lovers of democracy to ensure the military returned back to the barrack to face their constitutional duty of protecting the country from internal and external aggression.

This was contained in a statement issued and made available to newsmen on Thursday by the CHRSJ’S Media Office.

He noted that the alleged action of the security agents was to gag freedom of speech “by returning the country to the dark days of military era where the life was dark, shortish and bruitish.”

Sulaiman who doubles as Convener, Save Lagos Group (SLG), joined lovers of the country, to strongly condemned the animalistic act of  killing of no fewer than seventeen (17) military officers in Delta State, urging the Government of President Tinubu to ensure justice for the slain soldiers by fishing out the perpetrators of the dastard act.

According to Sulaiman: “Any attempt by the military or other security agents or any institution of the government to gag, harass and intimidate the members of the fourth estate of realm would be resisted by the lovers of our current democracy.

“We would not accept the Nigeria Army method of returning Nigeria back to the dark days of military era where Nigeria Military incursion into our democractic setting unconstitutionally”. 

Sulaiman, therefore, called for immediate and unconstitutional release of Segun Olatunji, without further delaying by his abductors, urging President Tinubu “to wade into the alleged illegal arrest of a Media guru by setting up the investigation team on the whereabout of Olatunji for his immediate release, adding that no democracy could survive without free press in any clime.”