Omirin regains freedom hours after arrest by Nigerian Army
Omirin Olatunji, who was whisked away by the Nigerian Army personnel in Borno State, yesterday, has regained freedom.
This is coming hours after he was picked up while hanging out with colleagues at the secretariat of the Nigeria Union of Journalists, NUJ, along Lagos Street in Maiduguri, the state capital.
Omirin who is a Daily Trust reporter, was taken away by two plain cloth army personnel and a soldier in camouflage carrying an assault rifle, AK 47.
The 7 Division, Nigerian Army, Spokesperson, Colonel Ado Isa, said that the Theatre Commander was having talks with the leadership of the NUJ, in a view to resolve the impasse.
However, in a swift reaction to the development, the NUJ have condemned his arrest, stating that, the military’s action was detrimental to the operation of free democracy.
In a statement jointly signed by the NUJ chairman and secretary in the state, Bulama Talba and Mohammed Ibrahim, respectively, it said: “We the members of the Pen profession in Borno State have been and will continue to live up to our responsibilities of informing the government and citizens on happenings as a way of promoting the safety of all and improve living conditions at all times.
“The union members from various media have been, with all sense of responsibility, carrying out duties to put issues in the right perspectives for proper agenda-setting by government and the military and mobilising the citizenry to support programmes and operations that follow, which Olatunji Omirin has been doing remarkably well.
“NUJ feels it is quite unfortunate that this is happening now when we all need to be on the same page to move our country from armed conflict to peaceful resolutions of disputes for development to thrive instead of playing into the wishes of elements that promote discord in the nation.
“We can do better by calling concerned media organisations, NUJ, as well as other stakeholders for regular interactions on finding common ground on the way forward beyond this modus operandi.”
