July 6, 2026 -- The Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development (CJID) condemns the abduction, secret detention, and physical and psychological torture of Stanley Ugabe, a journalist with Secrets Reporters, by operatives of the Nigeria Police Force National Cybercrime Centre (NPF-NCCC). Mr. Ugagbe has now been detained for 6 days without any formal or public communication from the police.
We demand his immediate and unconditional release.
On Wednesday, July 1, 2026, at about 6:30 PM, Mr. Ugabe was abducted from his residence in the Jikwoyi area of Abuja by four armed men dressed in mufti, who arrived in an unmarked Mitsubishi Pajero SUV with tinted glasses. Following days of denial by the Guzape police division, it has now emerged that the journalist was blindfolded, held in a secret location, and eventually moved to the NPF-NCCC headquarters over two separate petitions allegedly filed by an aggrieved public official and an undisclosed private individual concerning his journalistic work. This was confirmed by the Publisher of Secrets Reporters, Tega Oghenedoro, popularly known as Fejiro Oliver, in a phone conversation with the CJID.
In a disturbing escalation of these events, the NPF-NCCC has now issued a formal letter of invitation to the Publisher and Editor in Chief, Mr. Tega Oghenedoro. According to the letter, dated 6th July, 2026 and sighted by the CJID, the police claim they are investigating a case of "Espionage, Cyberstalking and Computer related offences" in which his name featured prominently. Mr. Oghenedoro has been requested to report to the Center for an interview on Wednesday, 8th July, 2026, at 10:00 am.
CJID finds the approach of the Nigerian Police in this incident quite disturbing. At a time when Nigeria is grappling with a rise in insecurity, rampant banditry, and kidnappings for ransom, it is condemnable that state security agents, especially the police, are adopting abduction tactics similar to that of criminal syndicates. Operating in plainclothes, using unmarked vehicles, blindfolding citizens, and holding them incommunicado erodes public trust and makes it practically impossible for law-abiding citizens to distinguish between lawful arrests and ruthless criminal abductions.
This rather disturbing abduction, coupled with the invitation of Mr. Oghenedoro over an unclear investigation of an "espionage", using the controversial cybercrime act, is a deeply troubling continuation of the severe clampdown on the media witnessed under the immediate past Inspector-General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun.
As extensively documented by the Press Attack Tracker, the Nigerian Police Force under Mr. Egbetokun lent itself to powerful individuals as a tool for hounding journalists. At least 45 journalists and media professionals were attacked or unlawfully detained in at least 50 cases of violations verified across the country. A constant feature in these arrests is the weaponisation of the Cybercrime Act to silence investigative journalists. These actions drastically plummeted Nigeria's standing on the global press freedom index.
The abduction of Mr. Ugabe was executed in the exact horrifying manner that journalists Segun Olatunji of First News and Daniel Ojukwu of the Foundation for Investigative Journalism (FIJ) were abducted in 2024. Mr. Olatunji was taken by heavily armed men, blindfolded, and flown to an underground military cell in Abuja to reveal his sources. Similarly, Mr. Ojukwu was abducted in Lagos by the IGP's Intelligence Response Team (IRT), held incommunicado for days, and was afterwards secretly transferred to the NPF-NCCC in Abuja over a cybercrime petition.
This sustained hostility against the press directly contradicts the explicit promises made by the new Inspector-General of Police, Tunji Disu, upon his assumption of office. IGP Disu publicly promised to distance the Nigerian Police Force from the patterns documented under his predecessor. He promised a renewed commitment to press freedom, respect for human rights, and an end to media harassment. He openly assured the media that journalists are professionals who deserve respect and promised a paradigm shift in police-media relations. The commando-style abduction of Mr. Ugabe makes a mockery of this pledge. Where there are allegations that a journalist or newsroom has derailed from journalistic principles, we encourage that they should be reported to the Ombudsman.
We reiterate firmly that journalism is not a crime and that the duty of the press to hold the government accountable and expose corruption is guaranteed by the Nigerian Constitution. We therefore call on IGP Tunji Disu to immediately walk his talk by:
- Ordering the immediate and unconditional release of Stanley Ugabe.
- Withdrawing the summons against Tega Oghenedoro especially because it associates his work with Espionage, Cyberstalking and Computer related Offences.
- Halting the continuous weaponisation of the NPF-NCCC and the Cybercrime Act against journalists.
- Instituting a probe into the officers who carried out this abduction and holding them accountable for violating police operational guidelines and the fundamental human rights of the journalist.
CJID remains committed to ensuring a safe and secure environment for journalists and media professionals to discharge their duties as guaranteed by the law.
Signed:
Busola Ajibola,
Deputy Director, Journalism Programme,
Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development (CJID).
