The Nigerian Army says Fisayo Soyombo, founder of the Foundation for Investigative Journalism (FIJ), was arrested at an illegal oil bunkering site.
On Friday, FIJ reported that Soyombo has been arrested and
detained by the 6 Division of the Nigerian Army in Port Harcourt for three
days.
Since news of his arrest broke, there have been several
calls for his immediate release.
But Danjuma Danjuma, acting deputy director of public relations at the 6 Division of the Army, said news of the journalist’s arrests has been “misleading”.
The army said intelligence recently revealed the existence
of a “notorious gang of oil thieves noted for bursting pipelines and illegal
connections for oil theft in the region”.
Danjuma said troops subsequently trailed the criminals to an
illegal oil bunkering site.
“In a subsequent operation carried out, troops swooped on
the site, where arrests were made, including one Fisayo Soyombo who was also
arrested at the scene,” the statement reads.
“The suspects are currently undergoing preliminary
investigation to ascertain their level of involvement or otherwise. Therefore,
his arrest is not unconnected with the activities of these oil thieves in the
region.
“It is, therefore, important for media outlets to ensure the
veracity of their information before they place them in the public domain.
“The Division will like to reassure the general public of its
commitment and responsiveness in ensuring the activities of criminal gangs,
particularly oil thieves, are drastically curbed in the region. This, it is
hoped will shore up oil and gas production in the country.”
Soyombo 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.
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