Arrest of Wife/Siblings As Replacement for A Journalist By Lai Mohammed Must Be Sanctioned – HURIWA

BY SEGUN ADEBAYO, ABUJA – The Prominent Civil Rights Advocacy group-: Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) has said that the inhuman treatment meted to the family members of journalist, Mr. Rotimi Jolayemi by the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed must not go unpunished.

It noted that before Jolayemi turned himself to the police, Alhaji Lai Mohammed ordered for the arrest of his wife, Mrs Dorcas Jolayemi, and two of the media practitioner’s brothers, John and Joseph, who were all locked up for eight, nine and two days respectively during which they were physically, emotionally and psychologically tortured.

HURIWA therefore condemned in very strong terms, the harassment and arbitrary arrest of Jolayemi also known as Oba Akewi on the orders of the Minister of Information, Alhaji Lai Mohammed over a poem read during a radio programme the Minister considered critical of him.

As a result, HURIWA called on President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration to take immediate action to stem the rising tide of horrendous violations of the freedoms of expression and information and to also stop the rapidly shrinking democratic spaces for the media to practice in line with Section 22 of the Nigerian Constitution.

It noted that Section 22 of the 1999 Constitution as amended, mandates the media to monitor the operations of all governmental and non-governmental systems in the country and to serve as the national vanguard and conscience. 

HURIWA citing media reports stated that the minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, reportedly ordered the arrest and detention of a journalist, Rotimi Jolayemi popularly known as Oba Akewi, over a poem read during a radio programme the minister considers critical of him.

The Rights group stressed that the brutal and atrocious act can only happen where there is widespread official impunity and anarchy, stressing that; “this feudalistic tendencies violate everything that is associated with constitutional democracy and the Rule of law and must therefore not be swept under the carpet by President Buhari if he truly wants any form of legacies to be bequeathed by his administration at the end of his second tenure in 2023.”

The Rights group vowed that it would be petitioning the governments of the United States of America; United Kingdom; Australia, Canada and Germany to pray for travel ban to be imposed on Alhaji Lai Mohammed.  

HURIWA also called for the resignation of Alhaji Lai Mohammed as the Minister of Information or be blacklisted by the Nigerian media.

HURIWA also condemned the Police Commissioner in Kwara state for allowing himself to be used to commit the horrendous human rights crimes of hostage, stressing that the reported unlawful detention of two brothers and the wife of the journalists in his place amounted to armed kidnapping which should be treated as such even as both the minister of Information and the police commissioner who authorised the abduction of the duo should be arrested and prosecuted for alleged armed kidnapping and punished by the competent Court of law.  

HURIWA said; “President Buhari-led administration should order the immediate arrest of the minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed and the Commissioner of Police for Kwara State for whisking away innocent persons and detaining them only because their brother was alleged to have read a poem considered offensive by the minister of Information and Culture. 

HURIWA said; “This is the elevation of the culture of impunity and criminality for officials of government to resort to self-help measures against perceived opponent. This is a violation of the Section 15(5) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria of 1999 which obliges the Nigerian government to abolish all corrupt practices and abuse of power.

“We demand the immediate release of the journalist, Jolayemi Rotimi and the payment of compensation for the arbitrary detention and illegal arrests of the journalist and his siblings and biological mother on the illegal order of the minister of Information and Culture Alhaji Lai Mohammed”.