The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has called on President Bola Tinubu and the Attorney General of the Federation, Lateef Fagbemi, to secure the immediate release of Foundation for Investigative Journalism (FIJ) reporter, Daniel Ojukwu, who was remanded at the Kuje Correctional Centre in Abuja.
SERAP also urged the Federal Government to discontinue the prosecution of Ojukwu and FIJ founder, Fisayo Soyombo, over investigative reports concerning alleged expenditure of public funds by the Office of the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Sustainable Development Goals.
Ojukwu was remanded on Tuesday by Justice Joyce Abdulmalik of the Federal High Court, Abuja, until December 1, 2026, when his bail application is scheduled to be heard. He had pleaded not guilty to a 12-count charge bordering on alleged cybercrime offences, including cyberstalking.
The charges relate to investigative reports published by FIJ concerning alleged payments for classroom construction projects and questions surrounding the use of public funds under the Office of the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Sustainable Development Goals.
Reacting to the development, SERAP described the journalist’s detention as a threat to press freedom, insisting that investigative reporting on public expenditure is a matter of legitimate public interest.
The organisation said public officials should respond to reports questioning government spending by providing explanations, making relevant records available and investigating allegations of wrongdoing rather than prosecuting journalists.
SERAP also expressed concern that Ojukwu’s latest detention came more than two years after he was arrested and detained for 10 days in May 2024 over reports concerning the same government office.
It called on the Federal Government to respect constitutional and international protections for freedom of expression and stop using cybercrime and criminal defamation laws to intimidate journalists and media practitioners.
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