The frequent arrests of journalists while carrying out their professional duties and exercising their constitutional rights pose a serious threat to press freedom in Nigeria and undermines democracy, Davidson Iriekpen writes
The sudden abduction and disappearance of a journalist with the online news platform, Secret Reporters, Stanley Ugagbe, for five days before the intervention of Nigeria Committee of the International Press Institute (IPI Nigeria) which secured his release from police custody last Monday, has again shown how endangered journalists have become in Nigeria.
Ugagbe was said to have been abducted from his residence in the Jikwoyi area of Abuja on Wednesday, July 1, 2026, at about 6:30 p.m. by unidentified armed men.
According to reports, neighbours saw four men in plain clothes arrive in an unmarked Mitsubishi Pajero SUV before taking the journalist away. While one of the men carried an assault rifle, another was dressed in shorts.
Secret Reporters said it initially suspected the involvement of the Department of State Services (DSS). However, after contacting the agency, it was informed that Ugagbe was neither in its custody nor arrested by its operatives. It added that the search later shifted to the Nigeria Police Force after a confidential source alleged that officers attached to the Police Violent Crimes Response Unit (VCRU) in Guzape, Abuja, carried out the abduction. However, efforts to verify remained unsuccessful.
