Fifteen months after the arrest of Ahmadu Abdulrhaman Nasiru, the man who disclosed the arrest of Damilola Ayeni, FIJ’s former editor, on trumped-up charges in Benin Republic, nothing has been heard about him.
The Beninese police arrested Nasiru in September 2023 after he got in touch with one of Ayeni’s friends in Nigeria about the latter’s impending trial and imprisonment for Jihadism in the country.
This information led to media and diplomatic pressure which preceded Ayeni’s eventual release from detention. However, as soon as Ayeni was released, the police in Benin picked up Nasiru.
READ MORE: Benin Republic Police Arrest Innocent Man Over 800,000 CFA Bribe Investigations
Ayeni said on Monday that the last update he had on Nasiru, who is a Beninese, was in July when he dialled his number and someone who spoke in French answered the call.
He explained that while he didn’t understand what the person was saying, he immediately forwarded Nasiru’s number to a friend who understood and spoke the language to facilitate communication.
However, that was the last time Nasiru’s number rang.
“I randomly called his number in July and it rang but the person who answered the call spoke French but I didn’t understand what he was saying. I then sent the number to a friend who understands and speaks the language, but by the time she called, she said the line had stopped connecting and it has been that way since then,” Ayeni said.
Ayeni said he could not overlook the current situation because Nasiru might be languishing in prison.
“It is hard to get over it. Every time I remember him, I feel like someone who committed no offence might be suffering in custody. He helped me get out of detention. And it’s hard to get closure knowing that he might be suffering for what he knows nothing about,” he said.
Ayeni also stated that his gadgets were yet to be returned by the Beninise Police after they seized them for investigations during his arrest. This is despite their promise to release it shortly after his release.
“My gadgets are still with the Benin Police, my two phones. They said they would release them shortly after my release, but they are still holding onto them.”
READ MORE: Benin Republic Arrests FIJ Editor Damilola Ayeni, Labels Him A ‘Jihadist’
In December 2023, FIJ’s check showed that Nasiru was last active on WhatsApp on September 7 of the same year and messages sent to him since then were never delivered.
The Beninese police arrested Nasiru after an FIJ publication indicting Agnisso Lounko, who demanded a bribe of 800,000 CFA in their name to release Ayeni.
Ayeni was arrested in Benin Republic in August 2023 after visiting the country for a story on a $1.7 million stray elephant that died one day after it was captured by the Univeristy of Ibadan Zoo.
The post Man Who Exposed Beninese Police’s Wrongful Arrest of Ex-FIJ Editor Unreachable for 15 Months appeared first on Foundation For Investigative Journalism.