Journalist and Publisher of online news outlet CrossRiverWatch, Agba Jalingo, has reportedly been detained at the Alapere Police Station in Lagos after declaring earlier in the day that police were occupying his home there.
Friday afternoon, the publisher of Cross River Watch posted a series of updates on his Facebook page announcing his arrest.
“I don’t know who sent the police but they have held my wife and my daughter hostage downstairs. I don’t feel safe. Those are their faces”, he posted, sharing a picture of some men in mufti at the gate.
“Policemen are still surrounding my house in Lagos. I still don’t know what brought them here. My wife and daughter are held, hostage.
Recall that the Federal Government was ordered to pay N30 million to Jalingo as restitution for mistreating and torturing him while he was detained in Cross River state by the ECOWAS Court of Justice in Abuja.
In rendering a ruling in the case last year, the court stated: “Agba Jalingo was brutalised and dehumanised while being detained and tied to a deep freezer for about 34 days without being brought before a judge. Through this legal action, SERAP is asking this court to compensate Jalingo for the cruel treatment and torture he endured. We have examined the available evidence. There was no response to the allegations that Jalingo was unlawfully jailed, brutalised, and stripped of his humanity.
In August 2019, the police first detained Jalingo. Due to his highly critical essays, he was later charged with treason and trying to overthrow the State Government.
Violet Agba, the activist’s wife, confirmed on Friday night and claimed that the activist had been scheduled for transfer to Abuja by the police.
According to her, Jalingo was being detained for allegedly defaming the wife of Frank Ayade, the brother of Ben Ayade, the governor of Cross River State, in public.
“We asked them for an arrest warrant or charge sheet, but they didn’t present it to us. They only told us that he’s been invited for defamation of character of Frank Ayade’s wife, Violet said.
