The Department of State Services (DSS) has come under fresh criticism after refusing to release the phones, drone and other electronic equipment belonging to journalist Zainab Sodiq, despite freeing her without charge after three days in detention.
ChroniclesReporters gathered that Sodiq, who has covered the activities of human rights activist and African Action Congress (AAC) presidential candidate, Omoyele Sowore, was arrested after she was found with a DJI Mavic Air 2 drone belonging to Sowore.
Sources said the Director-General of the DSS, Tosin Ajayi, personally supervised her detention. The sources further alleged that the agency’s leadership was angered by a series of reports exposing alleged rights violations by the DSS, as well as growing public criticism over its prosecution of Sowore for describing President Bola Tinubu as “a criminal.”
Although Sodiq regained her freedom on Friday night without any formal charge, the secret police have continued to withhold four mobile phones and other devices used in the course of her journalistic duties. Officials reportedly told her that the items would only be released after she complied with additional, unspecified procedures.
The DSS has also refused to return the DJI Mavic Air 2 drone, claiming it was illegally imported into Nigeria. As of the time of filing this report, neither the drone nor any of the confiscated devices had been returned.
The development has triggered fresh outrage among lawyers, media organisations and press freedom advocates, who argue that retaining a journalist’s working tools after releasing her without charge amounts to intimidation and a violation of constitutional rights. They maintain that the continued seizure of the equipment undermines press freedom and raises serious questions about due process and the exercise of state security powers.
Sodiq’s detention had earlier sparked widespread condemnation from journalists, civil society groups and rights organisations, including Amnesty International Nigeria and the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), with many demanding her immediate and unconditional release.
Her eventual release was announced by Omoyele Sowore, who described it as a victory against repression achieved through sustained public pressure from Nigerians at home and abroad.
Sowore credited the intervention of senior human rights lawyer Femi Falana (SAN), the International Press Institute (IPI), Amnesty International Nigeria, the Take-It-Back Movement, legal practitioners, journalists, civil society organisations and numerous Nigerians whose advocacy, he said, compelled the authorities to release the journalist.