Jones Abiri (right) with
his lawyer, Samuel Ogala, shortly after his release by the SSS in
Abuja on Monday, April 1, 2019.
A Nigerian journalist, Jones Abiri, who was arrested on Saturday
by armed men suspected to be operatives of the State Security
Service has been released.
The Bayelsa-based magazine publisher was released on Monday
afternoon from the secret police’s detention facility in Abuja, his
lawyer said.
“He has just been released around 2:00 p.m.,” lawyer Samuel
Ogala told newsmen, adding that terms of the release would be
disclosed later.
The men who arrested Mr Abiri came in a Toyota Hilux truck. He
was arrested in Yenagoa, the capital of his home Bayelsa State
where he publishes his Weekly Source magazine.
The SSS initially denied knowledge of the arrest, but those who
were with him insisted the agency was responsible.
No official statement had been issued to clarify the arrest,
which comes months after the journalist was released from an
prolonged detention.
Mr Abiri had been arrested in 2016 on allegations of
blackmailing expatriation oil workers in the Niger-Delta. He denied
the allegations, but was kept in custody until August 2018 when he
was freed on a court order.
He sued the agency and received damages for N10 million in the
case, which has neither been appealed nor executed.
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