By Sunny Onyekwere
December 23, 2025.
The Nigerian National Committee of the International Press Institute (IPI Nigeria) has condemned, in the strongest terms, the arrest and detention of Mrs. Adenike Atanda and her nine-month-old baby by operatives of the Nigeria Police Force.
IPI noted that Mrs. Atanda was detained for several hours on Monday at the Owutu Police Station in Ikorodu, Lagos, in place of her husband, Mr. Sodeeq Atanda, a journalist with the Foundation for Investigative Journalism (FIJ).
Making this known in a joint e- signed statement by the Institute’s President, Musikilu Mojeed and its Legal Adviser, Tobi Soniyi, yesterday, it added that police officers tracked Mrs. Atanda and her infant to their neighborhood and arrested them while Mr. Atanda was away from home. Neither Mrs. Atanda nor her nine-month-old child is a journalist, a suspect, or accused of any offense.
This action, the Institute said constitutes a clear and unlawful arrest by proxy, in violation of Section 7 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA) 2015 and Section 36 of the Nigeria Police Act 2020, both of which unequivocally prohibit the arrest of any person in place of a suspect.
Beyond the illegal arrest, Mrs. Atanda was subjected to harassment and psychological pressure.
Officers coerced her into falsely telling her husband that their infant was gravely ill to lure him out, effectively using a nursing mother and her baby as bait. The child was subjected to needless trauma and distress. Their only “offense” was their relationship to a journalist.
That this egregious violation of the law was carried out by officers attached to the IGP Monitoring Unit is particularly disturbing, coming barely weeks after IPI Nigeria listed the Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Kayode Egbetokun, in its “Book of Infamy” for violations of press freedom.
Following that listing, the Inspector-General initiated engagement with IPI Nigeria and expressed a commitment to improving police–media relations. He further mandated the IGP Monitoring Unit to engage with IPI Nigeria to address the growing pattern of harassment of journalists nationwide. Ironically, the very unit designated for that engagement has now executed one of the most brazen violations of journalists’ rights witnessed in recent times.
In protest against this gross abuse of power, IPI Nigeria said it has suspended all engagements with the Nigeria Police Force until there is clear evidence of accountability, respect for the rule of law, and an end to hostility toward journalists.
Mrs. Atanda and her baby were released only after Mr. Atanda presented himself to the police. He was subsequently arrested, handcuffed, and detained, and was released only after the intervention of IPI Nigeria.
“IPI Nigeria therefore demands a public apology by the Nigeria Police Force to Mrs. Adenike Atanda and her nine-month-old baby;
Adequate compensation for the unlawful arrest, detention, and trauma inflicted upon them;
the immediate arrest, investigation, and prosecution of all officers who instigated and carried out this illegal action.”, it stated.
It also calls for the dismissal from service of those officers as a deterrent to future abuses, that Mr. Sodeeq Atanda be allowed to carry out his legitimate journalistic duties without intimidation or harassment, and the police to refrain from meddling in civil or commercial disputes that fall properly within the jurisdiction of the courts and should advise complainants to seek redress through lawful judicial processes.
This culture of impunity incentivizes further violations and continues to erode public confidence in the Nigeria Police Force.
“We, therefore, call on the Inspector-General of Police to act decisively by purging the Force of officers unfit to serve and by demonstrating, through concrete action, a genuine commitment to reform, accountability, and respect for press freedom”, it added.
