Emmanuel Uti, a journalist with the Foundation for Investigative Journalism (FIJ), has been detained by the Nigerian Police in Lagos following an invitation by the Force Criminal Investigation Department (FCID).
Uti was reportedly detained on Tuesday at the FCID annexe in the Alagbon area of Lagos after responding to the police invitation concerning a story he published in November 2024.
The publisher of FIJ, Fisayo Soyombo, disclosed the development on his verified X (formerly Twitter) handle, expressing concerns over the journalist’s detention.
“His only ‘crime’ is filing a story about an educational consulting firm in Ikeja that collected N4m to secure admission into a Canadian institution for a client without delivering,” Mr Soyombo wrote.
According to the report published last November, Beverly Basil, an ex-employee of an educational consulting firm in Ikeja, received N4 million from a Lagos resident to help her to secure an admission into Canadian Institute of Management and Technology (CIMT), Canada. The report said Mr Basil failed to deliver on the deal or return the money.
Platinumpost obtained a copy of a police letter of invitation informing the management of the FIJ of a case under investigation against Mr Uti.
The letter dated 16 December 2024 stated that the journalist was under investigation for a case of criminal conspiracy and cyberbullying “in which the need to obtain certain clarification from you has become imperative.”
The police informed Mr Uti to report at its Alagbon office, where he should meet an officer, Magaji Ibrahim.
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