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The International Press Centre has condemned the recent harassment of its Executive Director, Lanre Arogundade, by some senior officials of the Department of State Services at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Lagos.
This was contained in a statement signed by the Press Freedom Officer at IPC, Melody Akinjiyan, on Tuesday.
The statement was titled, “Persistent harassment of Lanre Arogundade by DSS constitutes systematic abuse of power and violation of his rights.”
The IPC called on the Director-General of the DSS, particularly its men at the airport, to stop tormenting Arogundade.
According to the statement, the DSS officers accosted the activist while he was boarding a flight to attend conferences in Berlin, Germany, on April 11.
The group noted that the harassment had become a frequent occurrence in recent times.
“The incident of Thursday, April 11, while Mr. Arogundade prepared to board a late-night Air France Flight to Berlin, Germany to participate in the respective general meetings and conferences of the African Freedom of Expression Exchange and the International Freedom of Expression Exchange would be the umpteenth of such unwelcome development.
“Mr Arogundade is a renowned journalist, advocate for social justice and democracy, former Chairman of the Lagos State Council of the Nigeria Union of Journalists, and former President of the National Association of Nigerian Students. We believe these roles and positions should not warrant his unending torment by the DSS,” the IPC said.
The statement quoted a Facebook post by the IPC boss in which he narrated the encounter, saying that senior DSS officers claimed that his name was still popping up on their watchlist.
He said, “I was harassed by DSS officials for about 40 minutes because they claimed my name was still flashing on their watchlist despite the declaration two years ago by the Director General of the Department ofState Services, Mr. Yusuf Magaji Bichi, that my name had been removed when he met a delegation of the Nigerian chapter of the International Press Institute led by Musikilu Mojeed.
“Arogundade additionally informed IPC management that the senior DSS official to whom he was referred threatened to bar him from travelling unless he produced his old passports, describing the request as “bizarre and ridiculous”.
The organisation said the persistent harassment of Arogundade was a violation of his right to freedom of movement while undermining basic democratic principles.
“IPC hereby calls on the Director-General of the DSS, and in particular his men and officers at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport, to desist from further harassing Mr Arogundade,” the statement added.
