Investigative journalist, Fisayo Soyombo, has reportedly been arrested and detained by the 6 Division of the Nigerian Army in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.
The arrest, which took place three days ago, was confirmed by the Foundation For Investigative Journalism (FIJ) on its official page on Friday morning.
It was gathered that Soyombo’s detention may be linked to his work exposing corruption and smugglers aided by Nigerian Customs Services.
The FIJ has called for his immediate release and raised the alarm over the increasing threats to press freedom in the country.
Soyombo, known for his investigative reporting on high-profile issues such as corruption, abuse of power and human rights violations, has previously faced various threats and harassment.
“The 6 Division of the Nigerian Army in Port Harcourt has been detaining our founder ‘Fisayo Soyombo 3 days running. Journalism is not a crime,” FIJ said.
Earlier in November, SaharaReporters reported that Soyombo released more videos to establish his smuggling allegations involving Nigerian Customs Service (NCS) officers.
Fisayo, in a statement issued on his verified social media handles, had alleged that Nigerian customs officers had conspired with Adeyemi Habeeb Abdulganiy, an alleged multi-billionaire-naira smuggler better known as Abuga, to illegally pass about 2000 cars and smuggle in bags of rice into the country.
He had said the illegal operation was slated to take place on Sunday, 10th of November, 2024.
The journalist wrote: “All is set. Your men, working with Adeyemi Habeeb Abdulganiy, the multi-billionaire-smuggler better known as Abuga, are primed to pass more than 2,000 cars containing at least 65 bags of rice each from Bebe in the Benin Republic into Sango, Nigeria.
“Some of these cars will enter Sango from the toll gate by driving against traffic, consequently endangering lives, while some will gain entry into Sango through Ifo; others will use the Oju-Ore-Ota route.
“Road users in Sango can expect traffic congestion early tomorrow morning unless this post prompts an about-face from the actors. I understand as well that soldiers from the 192 battalion at Owode will be patrolling during the journey to prevent any resistance.
“So, @CustomsNG, just so you know, the people are watching; they will be hysterically laughing at you when you announce “seizure of one million bags of rice and 25 cartons of guns” later this week.”
However, the Nigerian Customs Service (NCS) National Public Relations Officer, Abdullahi Aliyu Maiwada, had told SaharaReporters that Fisayo’s claims were fictitious.
He had said it was illogical for anyone to believe their personnel were involved in the illegal operation.
In his another post, Fisayo had released two more videos to substantiate his smuggling allegations against the customs officers.
He said: “Since Maiwada considers my revelations ‘tales by moonlight’, I am supplying two more video evidence of smuggling-ready rice cars merely awaiting final clearance from rogue Customs officers.”
“If, after this, Maiwada still considers my revelations fictitious, I’m happy to share more videos with you. I’m just trying to be useful to you, so you can in turn be useful to Nigerians rather than your pockets,” the journalist added.
