Police arrests 6 The Nation Newspaper reporters over story

The Nigerian Police raided The Nation newspaper office in Abuja on Wednesday after detectives arrested four reporters over a publication purporting that former head of state instructed Goodluck Jonathan to sack some government officials.

When police arrived at its premises, some reporters working there fled onto nearby streets. The police were apparently searching for material to identify the source who gave the newspaper the alleged letter from former President Olusegun Obasanjo to President Goodluck Jonathan. "The police invasion, apparently meant to decapitate the paper's leadership and disrupt production of the Wednesday edition, paralyzed work at the newspaper house for many hours and unsettled staff," read the statement from Kunle Fagbemi, one of those supposedly wanted by the police. Detectives had earlier arrested four editors from the newspaper on Tuesday after failing to find the publication's senior leadership at its Lagos office, a statement from its general editor said. The police later arrested two reporters who accompanied the editors to a police station, as well as the newspaper's chief of security, said Victor Ifijeh, the publication's managing director and editor in chief. The private daily newspaper, one of many publishing in Nigeria's outspoken free press, blamed the harassment on an October 4 front page story about the letter. The newspaper alleged the letter outlined Obasanjo's desire for Jonathan to replace the leaders of the Petroleum Technology Development Fund and four other agencies with his own candidates. The letter has hit a nerve in Nigerian politics, as it recommends replacing leaders from the Muslim north as opposed to the country's Christian south, where Jonathan and Obasanjo both come from. Some also view Jonathan as beholden to Obasanjo's interests, so the letter raises new concerns about Jonathan's independence as a leader. Obasanjo denied the authenticity of the letter and threatened legal action, but the newspaper said it stood by its story. Federal police spokesperson Olusola Amore confirmed the arrests on Wednesday, saying officials in Abuja received a letter of complaint from Obasanjo alleging someone forged his signature on the letter. Ifijeh criticized the arrests, saying officers randomly arrested editors after finding the official they wanted was on vacation outside of the country. "Obasanjo is not bigger than the law," the editor said. "He should learn to do things in the proper way, follow the due process not intimidate the president and the police to take the law into their own hands."