DSS arrests journalist, Chido Onumah, at Abuja airport

Chido Onumah

The  Department of State Services (DSS) has arrested a journalist and activist, Chido Onumah, amid fears of a growing clampdown on free speech by the Federal Government.

Mr Onumah was arrested at the Abuja airport on Sunday evening on his return from Spain where he recently bagged a doctorate in communication studies.

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He arrived via a Lufthansa airline and was waiting for his luggage at about 5:00 p.m. when SSS officials accosted him, an associate told Premium Times.

It is believed that author of We Are All Biafrans was taken to the DSS headquarters in Abuja.

No reason had been given for his arrest as at the time of filing this report.

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Meanwhile, the African Centre for Media & Information Literacy (AFRICMIL), which Mr Onumah heads, said it is alarmed by the arrest.

“AFRICMIL condemns in strong terms the unjustifiable arrest of Mr Onumah and demands his immediate and unconditional release,” the organisation said in a statement by an official, Abdulaziz Abdulaziz.

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“Waylaying law-abiding citizens should not be turned into the preoccupation of an entire security outfit.

“The arrest of Mr Onumah, coming at the heels of harassment of other critical voices, smacks of grotesque days of the Nigerian history that Mr Onumah and his comrades fought steely against.”