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Broadcast Journalist Arrested And
Detained Overnight
On 14 March 2006, Segun Owolabi, a senior news officer with Rhythm 93 FM
radio in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State Capital in the Niger Delta
region, was arrested by officers of the State Security Service (SSS),
Nigeria's intelligence service, and detained overnight before being
released in the afternoon of 15 March.
Owolabi was detained at the SSS Headquarters in Port Harcourt. He was
arrested for airing a news item on the radio station about a planned
peaceful protest against the Port Harcourt District of the Power Holding
Company of Nigeria (PHCN), the Federal Government-owned electricity
generating and distribution company. A non-governmental organization
called Directory of Nigeria, organized the protest to draw the attention
of residents of Port Harcourt to the worsening power situation in the
state.
The news item, aired on 13 March, reportedly led to some senior management
staff of PHCN accusing the station of being used to cause a breach of the
peace and to incite the public to vandalise its facilities. Following the
complaint, some plain-clothed operatives of the SSS raided the station and
arrested Owolabi.
Owolabi said during his detention, he was asked to make a statement on the
broadcast and warned to refrain from doing anything that could jeopardise
peace in the state. He said: "I was put inside a cell from
4pm on Tuesday (14 March) till this afternoon (15 March) when I was
released."
His release followed the intervention of the Rivers State Commissioner for
Information, Magnus Abe, and the Chief Press Secretary to the Rivers State
Governor, Emma Okah, who pleaded with the state Director of the SSS,
Alhaji Kolawole Adesina, to release him.
The incident is the third time in less than four months that journalists
of Rhythm 93 FM, Port Harcourt, have been detained by security agents.
On 23 December 2005, Klem Ofuokwu, a reporter, and Cleopatra Tawo, a news
presenter, of the same station were arrested by SSS agents in Port
Harcourt. They were later arraigned before a Port Harcourt High Court on
charges of broadcasting false information and ordered remanded in prison
custody until 3 January 2006. On January 3, 2006, they were released on
bail and the management of the station sacked both of them to pacify the
state government. (See IFEX alert of 27 December 2005).
Earlier, on December 17, 2005, armed policemen and SSS agents shut down
the station and arrested David Obi, Head of News, and Loknan Dombim,
Programmes Manager, whom they detained overnight. The station, which was
re-opened hours later, was accused of broadcasting false information, in
which it alleged that the Choba Bridge on the outskirts of the city had
collapsed which caused panic among residents.
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