Sunday, December 1, 2024 -Investigative journalist Fisayo Soyombo has stated that he was conducting an undercover investigation when he was arrested by the Nigerian Army.
On Friday, the Foundation for Investigative Journalism (FIJ) reported
that Soyombo had been arrested and detained for three days by the 6 Division of
the Nigerian Army in Port Harcourt, the Rivers state capital.
Afterwards, the army said Soyombo was arrested at an illegal oil
bunkering site.
Later on Friday, FIJ confirmed that the journalist had been released.
Speaking in an interview with Arise News on Saturday, Soyombo described
his experience and the challenges faced by journalists in Nigeria.
He accused the Nigerian Army of deliberately compromising his safety
after being detained for three days in Port Harcourt while conducting an
undercover investigation into illegal oil bunkering.
He said: “I will be honest, it is the first time I have genuinely
felt my security compromised. I believe the army deliberately – the acting
spokesman of the Nigerian army deliberately compromised my security by
releasing that statement and linking me to oil bunkerers. I was in detention, I
made no mention of oil bunkering, now you’ve gone to tell illegal bunkerers
that ‘look, this guy was on your trail.’
“I am an investigative and undercover journalist. I was investigating
illegal oil bunkering. It happened that someone in the security setup was
offended that he didn’t get bribed because the illegal bunkerers would bribe
people in security. One got annoyed and tipped off others.”
He clarified that he was not arrested with oil thieves but had
approached the military personnel, thinking they were there to facilitate a
settlement.
“There was no arrest, the Nigerian army did
not arrest me. They spotted me, flashed their torch, and I came out and wanted
to open a conversation. I didn’t show them my ID because the illegal bunkerers
had said they had settled everyone and the guys who came were the ones that
were not settled, and a conversation was going to settle them, so I just
thought it was a settlement conversation and I came forward,” he added.
While admitting that he did not inform the Nigerian Army about his
investigation due to mistrust, he said: “The real growls of the army were
that, one, I didn’t carry them along. I won’t deny that I have low trust for
Nigerian public institutions – I didn’t trust the army, I didn’t carry them
along, but also known illegal oil bunkerers were bribing different people with
various security formations and I would endanger my life by carrying them along
if I didn’t know who was who.”
He revealed that after being detained in a military camp, he maintained
his cover as an illegal oil bunkerer until he was taken to the Sixth Division
headquarters.
“They all felt I was an illegal oil bunkerer, and I played along until
they took me to 6th Div. And I thought from then I was speaking with people in
offices who were investigating the case; that is when I said I was an
undercover journalist and showed them proof,” Soyombo said.
Reflecting on his experience, Soyombo criticised the state of press
freedom in Nigeria, especially concerning investigative journalism.
“Of course, the press is not free in a number of ways, and one of them
is that, especially people in security, don’t want to hear the word
‘investigation’. Every encounter I have had with the police, the military, once
I say ‘I was investigating’, something just changes in them. They don’t want
the press to do any form of independent work,” he said.
He expressed concern about the broader implications of such actions for
efforts to end illegal oil bunkering.
“My utmost concern now is my security has been compromised by the
Nigerian army that should be interested in ending illegal oil bunkering and
should have seen me as a partner,” Soyombo said.
The journalist emphasised that public pressure played a crucial role in
securing his release.
“If it did not get to the media yesterday that I was in detention, I
would still be there. I repeatedly asked them that I need to speak to my lawyer
and they denied me and they instructed all soldiers around there that none of
them must give me their phones.”
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