The Nigeria Police Force has released Adenike Atanda, wife of investigative journalist Sodeeq Atanda of the Foundation for Investigative Journalism (FIJ), following her detention alongside her nine-month-old baby at a divisional police headquarters in the Owutu area of Ikorodu, Lagos State.
The release took place on Monday evening, shortly after police operatives arrested Mr Atanda. He was later freed on the directive of the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Kayode Egbetokun.
According to FIJ, Adenike and the infant were earlier taken to a police station in Owutu, where they were allegedly held for several hours in what the organisation described as an attempt to lure her husband into police custody.
In an account published by FIJ and cited by TVC News, Adenike said she was instructed by the officers to call her husband and claim that their child was ill and had been rushed to the hospital. She said that once the police confirmed that Atanda was close to home, she and the baby were driven to a nearby street.
“When they saw him, they handcuffed him and took him away. That was when they released my baby and me,” she said.
FIJ said the journalist was immediately taken to the Force Headquarters annexe in Obalende, Lagos, where he was detained for several hours before being released shortly before midnight.
The organisation linked the incident to an earlier attempt by the police to invite Atanda for questioning. According to FIJ, on November 26, a person who identified himself as ‘Omo Eleniyan’ and claimed to be attached to the Inspector-General of Police Monitoring Unit contacted Atanda via WhatsApp, stating that his name had been mentioned in a petition under investigation.
FIJ said Atanda responded by requesting that any formal invitation be sent through the organisation’s official email address. The sender reportedly rejected this, insisting that the invitation was personal. Communication then ceased until the events of Monday evening.
Reacting to the incident, the Force Public Relations Officer, CSP Benjamin Hundeyin, said the IGP was displeased when informed of the arrest and ordered the immediate release of the journalist. He added that the IGP also directed that the head of the unit involved be sanctioned, stressing that the police leadership would not tolerate actions that undermine press freedom.
Hundeyin noted that the directive underscored the commitment of the Nigeria Police Force and the IGP to protecting journalists and upholding media freedom in the country.