Police Arrest Webmaster
Police Arrest Webmaster over News Media
Content
In what looked like a sting operation, a team of policemen have
arrested a professional webmaster, Mr. Adebowale Adekoya over a
news story published last year in NewsDigest, an Abuja-based online
medium which he provides technical services for
Adekoya, PRNigeria[1] learnt, was arrested in
Ikorodu, Lagos while going home and thereafter whisked away to
Ilorin Kwara State.
The investigative report, which was titled: “Inside Kwara
factory where Indian hemp smoking is ‘legalized,” was authored by
Mr. Alfred Olufemi, an award-winning campus journalist from one of
the premier universities in the country.
The story was published by NewsDigest with the reporter’s byline
on 19 May, 2018.
In the particular report, Hillcrest Agro-Alied Industry, one of
the group of companies owned by a former Deputy Governor of Central
Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mrs. Sarah Alade, it was learnt, tolerates
the smoking of cigarettes, as well as Indian hemp by workers within
its vicinity.
The NewsDigest’s investigative journalist, in his report,
further disclosed that workers who are saddled with the
responsibility of loading and off-loading processed and unprocessed
grains in trucks and other herculean tasks, smoke Indian hemp at
will without being sanctioned.
From the body of the investigative report, the industry refused
to respond to Olufemi’s inquiry on the disturbing situation, after
he had put several calls and text messages to the industry’s hot
line.
Reacting to the worrisome incident, Gidado Yushau, Editor of
NewsDigest, expressed rude shock over the arrest of his online
newspaper’s webmaster, describing the police’s action as an
‘unbridled illegality.’
Gidado, who maintained that the Police have no justification to
illegally arrest and detain Mr. Adekoya over a story which he was
not the author, said NewsDigest, as a credible online medium,
always upholds and adheres to the tenets and basic ethics of news
reportage.
He said:“NewsDigest has over the years served as veritable
platform for grooming and sharpening the writing talents of
brilliant campus journalists, who publish their articles, news
reports and investigative stories on the medium for free. We
strongly promote investigative journalism, especially
investigations done by gifted student-writers and journalists. One
of the results of our advocacy is the particular story, which was
‘beautifully’ authored by Mr. Alfred.
“We totally condemned the unjustifiable action of the law
enforcement officers for arresting Adekoya who is for doing his
legitimate work of managing our online site and dozens of other
media platforms. Besides, he was neither the owner of the website
nor the author of the investigative report. Therefore, we are
calling on the police to unconditionally release him,” he
added.
The police are still keeping the webmaster in their custody in
Ilorin after several days of the arrest, in lieu of the owner of
the website and the reporter.