The continuous detention of Ogun-based publisher, Ahmed Olamilekan, who was arrested over a report he published on the Governor of Ogun State, Dapo Abiodun is already setting the Governor against the press.
Olamilekan, who is also known as Labash has now clocked 100 days in detention facility.
He has been languishing in detention since Friday, May 13 over the publication of a report that Abiodun was allegedly arrested in the US over a credit card fraud and forgery in 1986, something the Governor is now denying.
The men of State Security Service (SSS) had secretly held Ahmed for days before he was arraigned at the State High Court, where he was remanded in prison custody after being granted bail under stringent conditions — in the sum of N3 million with two sureties in the sum of N1 million.
“Ahmed was invited for questioning by the Ogun State command of the Department of State Services over a publication relating to the controversial criminal past of the state governor. Thereafter, he was forced against his will to pull down the story from his news blog.” Festus Ogun, a lawyer familiar with the case had earlier revealed.
He added: “On Friday (May 13), he was invited again and because my client had nothing to hide, he again honoured their invitation. Since then, he has been held incommunicado. He has not been granted access to his family or lawyer and he has been detained beyond the time contemplated by law. Currently, he is being arbitrarily tortured, intimidated and denied his fundamental rights to liberty guaranteed under Section 35 of the constitution.”
Also, Fisayo Soyombo of the Foundation of Investigative Journalism, who took to his official Twitter handle said despite the fact that Labash was coerced into deleting the said publication, he is still being detained at Ibara Prison, Abeokuta, the Ogun State Capital.
“It is now 100 days since Governor Dapo Abiodun, the ‘eleyi’ of Ogun State, started keeping blogger Hammed ‘Labash’ Olamilekan in prison for republishing a newspaper article about the governor on his blog. This is despite coercing Lekan into deleting the publication,” Soyombo tweeted, Saturday.
Ahmed’s lawyer, who is handling the case, said efforts were being made to seek his release, saying his arrest and continous detention is a “huge slap” on press freedom in the country.
“We are working assiduously toward his release. The Ogun State Government, particularly the governor is the one holding him to ransom. This is nothing but a huge slap on the press freedom, coming on the heels of ban on AIT and other broadcast media by the Nigeria Broadcasting Commission,” the lawyer was anonymously quoted by the Punch to have said.
