Media Rights Agenda Demands Immediate Release Of Investigative Journalist Fisayo Soyombo By Nigerian Army

Media Rights Agenda Demands Immediate Release Of Investigative Journalist Fisayo Soyombo By Nigerian Army

VMT NEWS earlier reported that Soyombo, was arrested and has been detained for three days by the 6th Division of the Nigerian Army in Port Harcourt, Rivers State capital. 

The Media Rights Agenda (MRA), has condemned in the strongest terms, the arrest and detention of the investigative journalist and publisher of the Foundation for Investigative Journalism (FIJ), Fisayo Soyombo, by the Nigerian Army.

VMT NEWS earlier reported that Soyombo, was arrested and has been detained for three days by the 6th Division of the Nigerian Army in Port Harcourt, Rivers State capital. 

Demanding his immediate and unconditional release, MRA described Soyombo’s arrest and detention as illegal and unconstitutional, and called on the President Bola Tinubu-led Nigerian government to put an immediate end to the persistent and widespread abuse of powers by government agencies in disregard of the Constitution and violation of basic principles of the rule of law.

In a statement issued by its Communications Officer, Idowu Adewale, MRA’s Programme Officer, Mr. John Gbadamosi, said, “The Nigerian Army lacks the authority to arrest or detain civilians. 

“In any event, it is a clear requirement under the Constitution that anyone who is deprived of his personal liberty upon reasonable suspicion of his having committed a criminal offence, must be charged to court within 24 hours. 

“Both of these fundamental legal guarantees have been violated in the arrest and detention of Mr. Soyombo by the Nigerian Army.”

Gbadamosi noted that the Nigerian Army has very limited powers of arrest under the Constitution and those powers apply only under very specific conditions related to the mandate and functions of the Army, such as maintaining internal security or supporting civil authorities, for instance, for the purpose of “suppressing insurrection and acting in aid of civil authorities to restore order when called upon to do so by the President, but subject to such conditions as may be prescribed by an Act of the National Assembly.”

Gbadamosi, who said that Soyombo has not been accused or alleged to have engaged in any insurrection, said, “The Nigerian Army Act does not grant the Nigerian Army powers to arrest civilians under ordinary circumstances. 

“Instead, its provisions align with the military’s constitutional role, which is primarily focused on national defense and support to civil authorities. The Army should therefore focus on and expend its strength and resources on these roles.”

He specifically referred the Nigerian Army to the decision by Justice Taiwo Taiwo of the Federal High Court in Abuja, delivered on February 17, 2021, in a case between Grace Anita Paul and the Chief of Army Staff, Nigerian Army, and others in which the court ruled that the Nigerian Army lacks the authority to arrest and detain anyone not subject to the Armed Forces Act or any other military law. 

According  to him, the judge also cautioned the military against usurping the powers of the Nigerian Police, as outlined in Sections 4 and 84 of the Police Act, which grants the police the authority to detect and investigate crime.

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Gbadamosi insisted that even if Soyombo has committed any crime warranting his arrest, it is not the duty of the Nigerian Army to carry out the arrest, as they have no authority under the Constitution, the Nigerian Army Act or any other Law to arrest civilians.

He said, “The action of the Nigerian Army in arresting and detaining a journalist who is not subject to any military law constitutes a gross misuse of power and is deeply concerning. 

“We, therefore, call on President Bola Tinubu, as Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, to restrain the Nigerian Army and other military authorities to desist from this recurring abuse of their powers and disregard for the Constitution and other laws as they continue to portray Nigeria as a lawless society.”

(Saharareporters)