By Abiola Olawale
The Department of State Services (DSS) has reportedly clarified that it made an error by arresting multiple-award-winning investigative journalist Adejuwon Soyinka.
This was announced by human rights activist and public interest lawyer, Inibehe Effiong on Friday.
Effiong who accompanied Soyinka to the DSS office in the Ikoyi area of Lagos State after he was arrested at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport shortly after arriving on a Virgin Atlantic flight from London, UK, on Sunday, 25 August made this claim while addressing the press.
Addressing the press, the lawyer revealed that the DSS has returned the seized passport of Soyinka.
He also disclosed that the security agency blamed the arrest of the journalist on “possible mistaken identity.”
The lawyer did not say if his client would sue the SSS for an alleged unwarranted violation of his fundamental human rights as a result of professional incompetence and recklessness.
It would be recalled that Soyinka, two-time Emmy-nominated investigative journalist and West Africa Regional Editor at The Conversation Africa, was arrested by the operatives of the DSS.
He was subsequently held and interrogated for about 8 hours at both the DSS airport command and the agency’s Ikoyi office. He was later released on self-recognisance while his passport was withheld.
