In a move that has ignited widespread condemnation, Nigerian police officers allegedly detained the wife and infant child of investigative journalist Sodeeq Atanda to draw him out of hiding, leading to his handcuffed arrest in Lagos on 22 December 2025.
The incident unfolded in the Ikorodu area, where officers from the Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Monitoring Unit reportedly took Atanda’s wife and nine-month-old baby into custody at their home. According to accounts from the Foundation for Investigative Journalism (FIJ), where Atanda serves as a senior reporter, the police held the family at Owutu Police Station for several hours. They then pressured the wife to contact her husband under false pretences, claiming the child was ill and required urgent hospital attention. “When they realised my husband was no longer far from the house, the policemen drove me and my baby to a street not far from our home,” the wife recounted in a statement shared by FIJ. “And when they saw him, they handcuffed him and took him away. That was when they released my baby and me.”
FIJ’s founder and editor-in-chief, Fisayo Soyombo, confirmed the details to multiple media outlets, describing the ordeal as a blatant abuse of power. “They released the wife and the child and arrested Sodeeq. They handcuffed him,” Soyombo told Premium Times, adding that the journalist was transported to the Force Headquarters in Obalende, Lagos. Atanda was eventually released late that evening, just before midnight, following intense public scrutiny and interventions from rights groups. Soyombo later updated on social media that the release came from the Obalende Police Station, but not without highlighting the disturbing tactics employed. “What is deeply disturbing is how the Nigeria Police Force held his wife and their nine-month-old child hostage, effectively taking them as ransom,” he posted, emphasising that the officers admitted a complainant—linked to a fraud investigation Atanda had reported on—had paid private trackers to locate the family.
This arrest is not an isolated event for Atanda, whose work often exposes corruption and misconduct in public institutions. In September 2025, he was detained for about 11 hours by the Ekiti State Police Command following a petition from Abayomi Fasina, the suspended vice-chancellor of the Federal University Oye-Ekiti (FUOYE). The allegations stemmed from FIJ reports detailing claims of sexual harassment by Fasina against a university director. During that interrogation, officers reportedly pressed Atanda to reveal his sources, a request he refused on ethical grounds.
“They asked who my sources were and insisted there must be an origin of the information I published,” Atanda said at the time. “I told them I was not obligated to disclose my sources.” He was released after the Ekiti State Commissioner of Police intervened, acknowledging the journalist’s professional duties.
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The episode also ties into a broader pattern of journalist harassment in Nigeria, where press freedom advocates have documented a surge in arbitrary detentions. According to the Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development (CJID), Lagos has seen a high number of severe violations against media practitioners in recent years, contributing to a national rise in attacks. Rights groups like the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) and the Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE) have criticised the weaponisation of the Cybercrimes Act, which is often invoked in such cases. In a joint statement in December 2025, they warned that authorities are exploiting legal loopholes to stifle criticism, drawing parallels to repressive laws from past military regimes. Veteran journalist Richard Akinnola echoed this, calling the Act a tool “weaponised by political leaders.”
FIJ itself has faced repeated targeting since its inception in 2021. Reporters like Daniel Ojukwu were held incommunicado for 10 days in May 2024, while Soyombo has endured multiple arrests. Other cases include the 22-day detention of Naija News Today publisher Friday Alefia in 2025, accused of false reporting by a federal lawmaker, and the summoning of FIJ’s Emmanuel Uti by police units. These incidents occur against a backdrop of Nigeria’s declining press freedom ranking. The country placed 112th out of 180 in the 2025 World Press Freedom Index by Reporters Without Borders, citing increased use of cybercrime charges and restrictive bail conditions as major concerns.
The timing of Atanda’s arrest adds irony to the narrative. It came just a day after President Bola Tinubu praised the Director-General of the State Security Service (SSS), Oluwatosin Ajayi, for championing press freedom, an accolade from the Nigerian chapter of the International Press Institute (IPI). In contrast, IGP Kayode Egbetokun was blacklisted by the same body for the police’s role in journalist harassment. This disparity underscores the uneven commitment to media rights across security agencies, raising questions about accountability in a democracy where journalism plays a vital role in exposing graft.
Such tactics not only endanger individuals but also erode public trust in law enforcement. As SERAP’s Deputy Director Kolawole Oluwadare noted, “Arbitrary arrests, digital surveillance, and SLAPP suits pose a serious threat to freedom of expression and democracy.” For Nigerians, these events highlight the fragility of civic space, particularly when investigative reporting challenges powerful interests. With over 50 documented attacks on journalists in 2025 alone, according to CJID data, the implications extend to the health of the nation’s democratic institutions.
In reflecting on this case, the persistent use of family members in police operations signals a troubling escalation in efforts to silence dissent.
