FIJ: ‘Fisayo Soyombo detained by army for the past three days

Fisayo Soyombo, founder of the Foundation for Investigative Journalism (FIJ), has reportedly been arrested and detained by the 6 Division of the Nigerian Army in Port Harcourt.

In a post on its X page on Friday, FIJ said Soyombo has been in the custody of the army for three days.

“The 6 Division of the Nigerian Army in Port Harcourt has been detaining our founder @fisayosoyombo 3 days running,” the post reads.

“Journalism is not a crime! #FreeFisayoNow.

“All his devices have been seized. The Army must preserve his evidence and truth.

“Don’t destroy the evidence. We insist the truth must come out. It’s in your custody.”

Onyema Nwachukwu, spokesperson of the army, did not respond to TheCable’s requests for comments on Soyombo’s reported detention.

The journalist has repeatedly accused officials of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) of complicity in smuggling.

On November 18, he released a series of videos to back his smuggling allegations.

In 2019, Soyombo, a former editor at TheCable, went undercover in Ikoyi Prison for eight days.

Soyombo feigned an offence for which he was arrested and detained in police custody, arraigned in court and eventually remanded at the Ikoyi Prison in Lagos.

In prison, the investigative journalist had a front-row seat to corruption by prison officials.

After his release, he wrote a three-part report on his experience.

On October 5, 2024, Soyombo appeared on ‘Perspectives’, an Arise TV programme, where he commented on the rot in the nation’s prisons.

Subsequently, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, interior minister, invited Soyombo for a “roundtable conversation” on “reforms in the Nigerian correctional service”.