Editor of FirstNews Online Newspaper, Segun Olatunji, has described his ordeal while in captivity.
On March 15, gunmen dressed in military uniforms raided Olatunji’s home in Iyana Odo, Abule Egba, Lagos state, and abducted him.
Olatunji, speaking shortly after his rescue on Wednesday, said that people responsible for his suffering were connected to the administration.
He addressed this at a press conference hosted by the leaders of the Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE), the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), and the International Press Institute (IPI).
He said: “At first, they put me in a cell. There I was left with leg and handcuffs. And at a point, one of the officers came and tightened the right leg and the right hand and I was there growing in pain. And they didn’t loosen it until about two or three days later. And at that time, the whole part of my body was getting node. In fact, up till now, I can still feel the pain.
“While in detention, they were asking me questions about certain stories that FirstNews had carried. They first told me that I was one of those abusing the chief of defence intelligence. They didn’t say much about that.
“Then they also asked a story we carried about the Chief of Staff to the president, and that was a major thing. That’s why I told some people earlier that those behind my arrest are people behind the corridors of power, who are not happy with what FirstNews is doing, and are they bent on taking their own pound of flesh.”
