The Department of State Services (DSS) has returned the passport of Adejuwon Soyinka, former BBC editor and current West African editor of The Conversation Africa, after international backlash following his detention.
Soyinka was arrested on August 25 at Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos upon arrival from the UK, with the DSS citing “mistaken identity” as the reason for the arrest.
Although he was released within hours due to intervention from the International Press Institute (IPI) Nigeria, his passport remained in DSS custody until Friday when it was returned at the agency’s Ikoyi office.
Human rights lawyer Inibehe Effiong, who accompanied Soyinka to retrieve his passport, questioned the DSS’s explanation of mistaken identity, citing concerns about the agency’s accountability and transparency.
Soyinka’s detention is part of a troubling pattern of recent attacks on journalists in Nigeria under President Bola Tinubu’s administration.
Other recent cases include the arrests of Segun Olatunji, a former FirstNews editor, in March, Daniel Ojukwu, a journalist with the Foundation for Investigative Journalism (FIJ), in May, and Jamil Mabai, a freelance journalist detained by Katsina Hisbah religious police.
These incidents, along with detentions by the Nigeria Police Force National Cybercrime Centre (NPF-NCCC), have prompted widespread condemnation from press freedom advocates. The Center for Collaborative Investigative Journalism (CCIJ) emphasized that such actions threaten press freedom, a critical pillar of democracy that ensures government accountability.
Global organizations had previously condemned Soyinka’s detention, calling for greater protections for journalists in Nigeria amid a growing crackdown on press freedom.
