The Department of State Services (DSS) has released two reporters from Jay 101.9 FM in Jos, Plateau State, after they were wrongfully arrested on Saturday during the visit of President Bola Tinubu, who was in the state to attend the funeral of the mother of Prof. Nentawe Yilwadta, the APC National Chairman.
According to a credible security source, on hearing that some overzealous operatives had arrested Ms Ruth Marcus and Keshia Jang, who work for the radio station, the Director-General, Mr Oluwatosin Ajayi, ordered their immediate release, The Nation reported.
The agency immediately contacted Comrade Alhassan Yahaya, the national president of the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ), to relay the Director General’s apologies, the source confirmed.
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“The Director assured the NUJ President that the new DSS leadership treasures the importance of a free press in a democracy, and has ordered a thorough investigation into the matter. He further assured the NUJ President that any officer found culpable will be appropriately sanctioned.
“The new DG is correcting the wrongs he inherited. One of them is overzealousness. This is why the new DG has not failed to admit so whenever the Service makes mistakes. We are witnesses to several instances when the Service apologised and even compensated victims of wrongful arrests.
“The DG is an absolute lover of human rights and press freedom. You may recall that sometime ago, the DSS DG apologised to the management of TVC over the alleged harassment and intimidation of a reporter,” added the source.
