Jones Abiri, publisher and editor in chief of the Weekly Source newspaper has been released from detention in Nigeria, after over two years, reports Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ).

Jones Abiri was arrested by Nigeria’s state security service at his office in Yenagoa, in the southern state of Bayelsa, on July 21, 2016. Abiri was held for more than 2 years without trial in a secretive detention, unable to even see his family.

Abiri finally appeared in court with an arraignment on July 27, 2018, and a hearing on August 2, 2018. During the August 2 hearing, prosecutors were unable to produce a single witness against the journalist.

Jones Abiri was released Wednesday on bail and scheduled to appear in court Thursday. CPJ urges authorities to drop the trumped up charges against him.

CPJ’s Sub-Saharan African Representative, Muthoki Mumo

says, “Jones Abiri should never have been arrested nor kept in detention by the [Nigerian] Department of State Security for over two years, and we call for all charges against him to be dropped immediately.”
“The ongoing efforts to prosecute Jones Abiri are a grave indication of the lengths to which the government of President Buhari will go to intimidate journalists in Nigeria.” She concludes.
Our source also gathered that #Nigeria Journalist Samuel Ogundipe for Premium Times Nigeria, one of few journalists reporting on Jones Abiri’ over 2 years detention, was also on Aug 14 arrested & on Aug 15 arraigned without a lawyer for refusing to reveal a source. He remains in detention. The hash tag is at the moment trending on twitter urging Nigeria government to free the journalist.

#FreeSamuelOgundipe #PressFreedom