Two weeks after Ahmadu Abdulrhaman Nasiru, the Beninese who exposed the arrest and possible arraignment of Damilola Ayeni, the editor of FIJ, was re-arrested by the Benin Republic police, he’s still unreachable.
WhatsApp messages sent to Nasiru have not been delivered, and he was last active on the social media platform on September 7.
The Beninese police arrested Nasiru after an FIJ publication indicting one Agnisso Lounko who demanded a bribe of 800,000 CFA in their name to release Ayeni, who had been detained in the Republic of Benin while on a trip to the country for the second leg of a Nigeria-Benin environmental journalism report. FIJ received a distress text from the editor on one of its communication channels on August 31, but the police in Benin deleted the message within seconds of its delivery.
READ MORE: Benin Republic Arrests FIJ Editor Damilola Ayeni, Labels Him A ‘Jihadist’
The text read: “I have just been arrested.”
FIJ subsequently lost touch with Ayeni until Nasiru sent a voice note detailing his arrest in the country. Following Nasiru’s voice note, a man who identified himself as the ‘Commissioner of the Central Police Station of Parakou in Benin’ called to say that the editor was being held at Commisseriat Central, Parakou Police Station.
While the police in Benin told FIJ that the person who asked for money was only “impersonating the police commissioner”, Ayeni maintains he gave phone numbers to only two people — Nasiru and one policeman who repeatedly demanded his mother’s phone number. He adds that the person who claimed to be the police commissioner was either the policeman who demanded for his mother’s number or someone else the policeman personally passed his information to.
A RANSOM?
Agnisso Lounko contacted ‘Fisayo Soyombo, FIJ’s editor-in-chief, via a WhatsApp message that read: “Hello sir, I am the Commissioner of the Central Police Station of Parakou in Benin. Do you know Mr. Damilola of Nigerian nationality? He is arrested in Penjari [sic] Park in northern Benin for jihadist [sic]. He would be presented to the prosecutor and sent to prison. He risks 10 to 20 years in prison. What do you think of his situation, sir?”
After Soyombo insisted with evidence that Ayeni was a journalist and not a jihadist, Lounko demanded to know his whereabouts: “Where are you now, sir?” He continued after getting an answer, “I am the Central Commissioner of Parakou in Benin. [A] Jihadist case in Benin is complicated. What do you think of his current situation?”
When he was asked to give options from which a decision could be made, he replied: “I ask you to send a lawyer for his defence. I will ask the OPJ (judicial police officer) to listen to him again before presenting him to the CRIET Prosecutor in Porto-Novo. Thank you.”
Innocent Nasiru held by the Benin police
FIJ’s response was: “How did a Nigerian journalist become a jihadist in Benin? Did you find a gun, sword, knife, grenade, bomb or any other arm or ammunition on him?”
READ MORE: FIJ Editor Damilola Ayeni Moved to Cotonou Ahead of Arraignment for ‘Terrorism’
But Lounko doubled down on his claims, saying: “Do you want his release? If so, reconsider your reaction or send a lawyer to defend him.
“We are all human beings, and I also have relatives in Nigeria. Send 800,000 CFA to my number, allowing me to see my colleagues again and the released [sic].”
FIJ’s contacts in Benin Republic said 800,000 CFA was the equivalent of N1.2 million.
“We are in the fight against the jihadists,” Lounko reiterated, insisting on the 800,000 CFA compensation.
NASIRU’S BELOW-BASIC ENGLISH KNOWDLEDGE
‘Fisayo Soyombo, FIJ’s founder, whom Lounko contacted directly to demand the bribe, believes he’s indeed a police officer, as Nasiru, an illiterate, could not have displayed that level of intelligence.
“I listened to three voice notes from Nasiru and I spoke with him on the phone once,” he said. “I am a million percent sure that he does not have the intellectual wherewithal to hold that WhatsApp chat with me. His command of the English Language is beneath basic.”
During another bout of interrogation by the police in Cotonou on the day he would be released, Ayeni was shown a picture of Nasiru and asked to identify him. He cooperated thinking it was just for a police investigation that would bring out the truth in no time. A check on Monday, however, revealed that Nasiru was last seen on WhatsApp on Thursday, suggesting that the Good Samaritan might have been picked up and detained for an offence he likely knows nothing about.
BENIN POLICE DIDN’T DENY ARRESTING NASIRU
READ MORE: BREAKING: FIJ’s Damilola Ayeni Freed After 9 Days in Benin Republic Detention
In subsequent interactions with the Beninese police after Ayeni regained freedom, Soyombo brought it to their notice that Nasiru had been wrongfully arrested. At no point did they deny his arrest.
Olumide Ogunmiluyi, Ayeni’s friend who received Nasiru’s voice messages, said the poor man made no monetary demands.
“He didn’t demand for N1.2 million,” said Olumide. “It was another guy who did.”
Ayeni also said he was sure Nasiru could not have played a role in the demand for 800,000 CFA.
“Nasiru is a godly man, and I’m sure he didn’t have a hand in the offence for which he’s now being troubled. On the day Lounko reached out asking for money, Nasiru had returned to the cell very early in the morning to tell me he had called home,” Ayeni added.
“He also told me clearly that he had now linked up my relatives with the police officer who was with him at the cell’s entrance. This was the same police officer who had asked for my mum’s phone number when I approached him for assistance to reach my friend. Nasiru, an illiterate, could not have typed in English. The police should look within and refrain from keeping an innocent man in custody.”
The post 2 Weeks After, Innocent Man Arrested by Benin Police Over 800,000 CFA Bribe Still Unreachable appeared first on Foundation For Investigative Journalism.