Security operatives arrest journalist

Security operatives believed to be from the State Security Service (SSS) arrested Edna Ulaeto, a journalist with news outlet OrderPaper in a raid on her home on Friday.

According to a statement from OrderPaper management, a group of armed men who identified themselves as officers of the SSS from the Office of the National Security Adviser stormed Ms Ulaeto’s residence early Friday morning.

The statement said the SSS operatives reportedly manhandled her while she was still in her nightwear and took her to an undisclosed location.

“The young lady, still in her casual nightwear, was violently manhandled and whisked away to an unknown destination, leaving her family and neighbours in shock and fear,” the statement read.

OrderPaper also disclosed that her phone number had been tracked without authorisation.

The arrest is believed to be linked to a recent OrderPaper’s article that mistakenly reported an alleged SSS operation at the National Assembly, supposedly aimed at preventing an attempt to remove the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio.

Though the newspaper retracted the story and issued a public apology, masked officers reportedly broke into Ms Ulaeto’s home, rifled through her personal belongings, and caused significant distress to her and her family.

The statement said her neighbours who attempted to intervene or document the incident were reportedly pushed aside, with some forced to delete photos and videos under the threat of arrest.

The organisation further said no formal notice or invitation was sent to Ms Ulaeto or OrderPaper before the raid, raising concerns about the legality of the operation.

Efforts to reach her after the arrest were unsuccessful, heightening fears about her safety.

“This brazen, terrifying act has left the entire staff of OrderPaper living in fear, uncertain of what may happen next,” the statement continued.

ALSO READ: Nigerian journalist feared dead, others abducted ahead of AFCON Qualifier

The statement called on civil society organisations and the international community to demand her immediate release and to condemn what it described as an attack on press freedom and basic human rights.

PREMIUM TIMES could not reach out to SSS because the secret police have, for months, remained without an official spokesperson.

Many concerns over press freedom

The arrest of Ms Ulaeto is the latest in a series of troubling incidents targeting journalists in Nigeria, where press freedom has come under increasing pressure in recent years.

PREMIUM TIMES reported that the Press Attack Tracker has revealed that more than 100 cases of violence and intimidation against journalists have been recorded this 2024 alone.

Federal security agencies, including the police and the SSS, are responsible for the majority of these attacks.

In one such case, SSS operatives, on 25 August, arrested and detained for hours multiple-award winning investigative journalist Adejuwon Soyinka, blaming his arrest on “possible mistaken identity.

returned the seized passport of multiple-award winning investigative journalist Adejuwon Soyinka, blaming his arrest on “possible mistaken identity.”

Daniel Ojukwu of the Foundation for Investigative Journalism was detained without access to family or legal counsel and later flown to Abuja, where he was held for nine days before being released.

Other journalists have faced harassment, detention, and intimidation for their work. In one incident, reporters Nurudeen Akewushola and Dayo Aiyetan from the International Centre for Investigative Reporting (ICIR) were detained for several hours at the Nigeria Police Force National Cybercrime Centre over a story they had published.

As cases of press intimidation increase, advocacy groups have expressed concern that Nigeria is witnessing a significant backslide in press freedom. Despite constitutional protections, journalists are increasingly targeted for their work, with state actors using arbitrary detention and harassment as tools of repression.