Nigeria Police have released Investigative Journalist, Fisayo Soyombo after he was arrested at the Force Headquarters, Abuja.
Gatekeepers News had earlier reported that the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) invited Soyombo, over an ongoing investigation.
Soyombo disclosed this via his verified Facebook page.
He said the Monitoring Unit of the Inspector General of Police invited him over to the Force Headquarters, Abuja.
Soyombo added that he is a law-abiding citizen who has committed no crime, adding that he will be surrendering his devices to the investigators for a probe.
He wrote: “I have just arrived at the Force Headquarters, Abuja, to honour an invitation from the Monitoring Unit of the Inspector General of Police. They say my “name and phone number featured in an investigation” they are conducting.
“The decision to come was straightforward: I am a law-abiding citizen who has committed no crime unless journalism is one. If there is no update on this handle by dusk, it means I have been unjustly detained. I will be surrendering my devices now. Any other update until my release will be provided by FIJ Nigeria.”
Soyombo’s Foundation for Investigative Journalism announced his release in a terse statement.
The statement read, “We can confirm that our Founder Fisayo Soyombo has been released by the Force Headquarters.
“He was released on bail at exactly 6:26 pm today and is to return on January 13, 2022.
“Our only offence here is that we published a TRUE story.”
According to FIJ, the journalist’s detention was in connection with an investigative story published by his medium in August 2021 alleging that a Deputy Inspector General of Police, Joseph Egbunike, joined other police chiefs to approve more than N1bn for some police transit camp projects in Benue, Bauchi, Plateau, Katsina and Kano states.
