Madu Onuorah, the publisher and editor-in-chief of Globalupfront Newspapers, who was abducted from his residence in Lugbe, Abuja, by policemen on Wednesday, has been released.
The management of Globalupfront Newspapers announced his release in a statement on Friday, revealing that the Enugu State Police Command released him on bail on Thursday night.
“We confirm the release on bail of our Publisher/Editor-in-Chief, Mr. Madu Onuorah, who was abducted by men of the Ebonyi Police Command on Wednesday evening from his residence in Lugbe, Abuja. He was released late Thursday night by the Enugu State Police Command, who had requested his detention. We are awaiting a full briefing from Mr. Onuorah and our lawyers before issuing a detailed statement and outlining our next steps,” the statement read.
“We stand firmly by our Editor-in-Chief and the harmless story we published. The police station is not a court of law for alleged defamation cases. We thank the journalism and media community, friends, well-wishers, and all defenders of freedom of expression who opposed this budding tyranny.”
On Wednesday, security operatives took Onuorah around 6 p.m. in the presence of his wife and children. About 10 fully-armed policemen stormed his residence in two Sienna buses, abducting him without presenting a warrant of arrest and keeping him incommunicado from his family, lawyer, and workplace.
His abduction came just 21 days after Daniel Ojukwu, a journalist with the Foundation for Investigative Journalism, was taken by the Intelligence Response Team of the Inspector General of Police. Ojukwu was initially held at the State Criminal Investigation Department in Panti, Lagos State, and later transferred to the Nigeria Police Force National Cybercrime Centre in Abuja.
