Home NEWS POLITICS Security Agents Arrest Newspaper Editor At National Confab Venue, Delegates Condemn It

Security Agents Arrest Newspaper Editor At National Confab Venue, Delegates Condemn It

Adesina

Operatives of the Department of State Security Services, today, arrested and detained Deputy Editor of The SUN newspapers,  at the venue of the ongoing National Conference, raising eyebrow amongst the delegates who condemned it. The arrest almost disrupted the proceedings of the conference.

The editor, who is one of the accredited newsmen covering proceedings at the confab holding at the National Judicial Institute, Abuja, was picked up at about 2pm and whisked to their office within the NJI. He was detained for over 30 minutes but eventually released after some journalists besieged the area, where he was being detained.

Nwosu told his colleagues after his release that though the authenticity of the report on which he was arrested could not be faulted, but that his captors said that they were embarrassed by the report because they were queried by their superiors and the Presidency over the ugly scuffle which reportedly took place on Tuesday.

The action of the DSS operatives was condemned by delegates with Mr., Niyi Akintola (SAN) raising a point of order when the plenary resumed after break. He warned that in a democratic dispensation, it was wrong for security operatives to infringe on the rights of a journalist who was carrying out his legitimate responsibilities.

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According to him, the era of abuse of human rights must not be revisited in the present democratic dispensation.

His submission was supported by other delegates who condemned the action of DSS operatives.

A delegate representing the Nigerian Union of Journalists, Mr. Lanre Ogundipe, also condemned the arrest and detention when he took Nwosu to meet the leader of the SSS team at the confab venue.

The Deputy Chairman of the Conference and former Minister of External Affairs, Prof. Bolaji Adeyemi, warned security agencies to respect the rights of people who were carrying out their lawful duties.

 

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