Reported by: Ijeoma G | Edited by: Oravbiere Osayomore Promise.
The abduction and detention of Stanley Ugagbe, a journalist with the online news platform Secret Reporters, has sparked widespread condemnation from media rights organisations after it emerged that he was held incommunicado for six days by operatives of the Nigeria Police Force National Cybercrime Centre (NPF-NCCC) over a report linking the Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria to a property acquisition in Los Angeles. Ugagbe was released on Monday, 6 July 2026, at approximately 7:30 p.m., following the intervention of the International Press Institute (IPI Nigeria), but the police have indicated that investigations into allegations of espionage, cyberstalking and computer-related offences are continuing.
The journalist was abducted from his residence in the Jikwoyi area of Abuja on Wednesday, 1 July 2026, at about 6:30 p.m., according to accounts from his employer and media rights groups. Four armed men dressed in plain clothes arrived in an unmarked black Mitsubishi Pajero SUV with tinted windows and took him away shortly after he returned from work. Eyewitness accounts said one of the men was dressed in a T-shirt and trousers, while another was carrying an assault rifle. The operatives handcuffed Ugagbe, escorted him to his residence, confiscated his work laptop and mobile phone, blindfolded him, and drove him to an undisclosed location. He remained blindfolded overnight at the first location until Thursday, 2 July, when he was transferred to another facility, still blindfolded, before the blindfold was removed. Secret Reporters later established that the facility was the National Cybercrime Centre (NCCC).
The arrest is believed to be connected to an investigative report published by Secret Reporters titled: "EXCLUSIVE: CBN Deputy Governor Emem Usoro Linked to N3.6bn Los Angeles Property Amid Questions Over Asset Declaration Compliance (Part 2)". Sources within the NCCC told Secret Reporters that one of the petitions against Ugagbe was submitted by the Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Emem Usoro, who allegedly reported that he published false information about her. A second petition, allegedly submitted anonymously, accused the journalist's platform of leaking sensitive government information and official secrets considered detrimental by the authorities. During questioning, Ugagbe reportedly maintained that, as a reporter, he was assigned stories by the management of Secret Reporters and was not the custodian of the source materials used in preparing investigative reports, adding that laptops and communication devices used by him and other reporters are company property.
The Nigeria Police Force National Cybercrime Centre detained Ugagbe "for six days without any formal or public communication from the police," according to the Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development (CJID). The police initially denied holding him, with the Guzape police division reportedly denying any knowledge of his whereabouts. However, it later emerged that he was being held at the NPF-NCCC headquarters. In a disturbing escalation, the NPF-NCCC issued a formal letter of invitation to the Publisher and Editor-in-Chief of Secret Reporters, Tega Oghenedoro, also known as Fejiro Oliver, requesting him to appear before the centre on Wednesday, 8 July 2026, at 10:00 a.m. for an interview in connection with an investigation into "Espionage, Cyberstalking and Computer-related offences".
The abduction and detention have drawn sharp condemnation from media rights organisations, including the CJID, the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), and the International Press Institute (IPI Nigeria). The CJID, in a statement released by its Deputy Director of Journalism Programme, Busola Ajibola, condemned the police's use of "abduction tactics similar to those of criminal syndicates," noting that operating in plainclothes, using unmarked vehicles, blindfolding citizens, and holding them incommunicado erodes public trust and makes it practically impossible for law-abiding citizens to distinguish between lawful arrests and criminal abductions. The organisation called on the Inspector-General of Police to order Ugagbe's immediate and unconditional release, withdraw the summons against the publisher, and stop what it described as the "weaponisation of the Cybercrime Act against journalists".
The NUJ FCT Council also condemned the arrest, describing it as "grave concern" and demanding that security agencies immediately disclose the identity of the operatives involved, state the reasons for Ugagbe's arrest, grant him immediate access to his family and legal representatives, and either charge him or release him without further delay. A former President of the NUJ, Lanre Ogundipe, warned that the growing trend of treating journalists as fugitives rather than professionals undermines the rule of law and weakens Nigeria's democracy.
Following sustained representations and intensive negotiations by IPI Nigeria, Ugagbe was released to the President of IPI Nigeria, Musikilu Mojeed, on Monday evening. However, the police indicated that investigations into allegations of espionage, cyberstalking and computer-related offences are continuing. The case has reignited concerns about the weaponisation of the Cybercrime Act against journalists in Nigeria, with rights groups noting that at least 45 journalists and media professionals were attacked or unlawfully detained in at least 50 verified cases under the immediate past Inspector-General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun. Nigeria currently ranks 112th in the World Press Freedom Index. As Ugagbe's case remains under investigation, the broader question of press freedom and the safety of journalists in Nigeria continues to hang in the balance.
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