Authorities in Nigeria should immediately drop all charges against journalists Adisa-Jaji Azeez, Salihu Ayatullahi, Salihu Shola Taofeek, and Abdulrahman Taye Damilola, and allow them to work without fear of arrest, the Committee to Protect Journalists said on Friday.
On Tuesday, police officers arrested Azeez, managing director, and Ayatullahi, editor-in-chief, of the privately owned The Informant247 news website, over reports published on November 10 and February 1 about corruption at Kwara State Polytechnic, Ayatullahi and Taofeek, the outlet’s publisher, told CPJ by phone.
Azeez and Ayatullahi were arrested after responding to a request from the police headquarters in Ilorin, capital of western Nigeria’s Kwara State, to come in for questioning, following a complaint from the rector of the polytechnic Abdul Jimoh Mohammed about the outlet’s allegation that he was involved in fraud, those sources said.
