On December 22, 2025, operatives of the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) in Owutu, in the Ikorodu area of Lagos State, arrested and handcuffed Mr Sodeeq Atanda, a senior investigative reporter with the Foundation for Investigative Journalism (FIJ), after allegedly using his wife and their nine-month-old baby, who were earlier arrested in his absence and detained for hours, as bait.
Earlier the same day, Mrs Adenike Atanda and her infant child were arrested at their residence by the police and detained for several hours at the Owutu Police Station.
Mrs Atanda disclosed that the police coerced her into calling her husband and lying to him that their child was ill and hospitalised. She recounted: “When they realised my husband was no longer far from the house, the policemen drove me and my baby 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.”
Mr Atanda was taken from the Owutu Police Station to the Force Headquarters Annex, Obalende, Lagos, where he was detained for several hours before his eventual release shortly before midnight.
According to FIJ, on November 26, 2025, a person who identified himself as “Omo Eleniyan” and claimed to be working with the Inspector-General of Police Monitoring Unit at the Force Headquarters Annex, Obalende, Lagos, contacted Mr. Atanda via WhatsApp, summoning him to the station.
In the WhatsApp message, Omo Eleniyan said “I’m a police officer attached to IGP Monitoring Unit Lagos Annex.”
“An approved petition was referred to my department from the office of the inspector general of police for further investigation, and you [sic] named [sic] as [sic] been mentioned and alleged [sic] that was why [sic] you been [sic] invited sir [sic] thanks for cooperation and understanding [sic].”
In response, Mr. Atanda provided FIJ’s official email address, requesting that a formal letter of invitation be sent through that channel.
But Eleniyan responded: “The invitation Is [sic] for you not [sic] for the organisers [sic].”
However, Eleniyan replied: “The invitation is for you, not for the organisers.”
Mr. Atanda subsequently clarified that he works for FIJ and that any such invitation should be sent through the organisation’s official channel. Eleniyan replied: “Alright sir. No problem.” Thereafter, FIJ did not receive any further communication from him until the police allegedly used Mr. Atanda’s family as bait to arrest him.
Mr. Atanda was released a few minutes before midnight on the same day.
