The Nigeria Police Force has released Adenike Atanda, the wife of a senior investigative reporter with the Foundation for Investigative Journalism (FIJ), following widespread concern over her reported detention alongside her nine-month-old baby in Ikorodu, Lagos State.
FIJ confirmed that Adenike and her infant were freed on Monday evening, shortly after police operatives arrested her husband, Sodeeq Atanda, a senior reporter with the organisation. Atanda was also released later the same night.
According to FIJ’s account, Adenike and the baby were initially taken to a police station in the Owutu area of Ikorodu, where they were held for several hours. Officers allegedly instructed her to contact her husband under the pretext that their child was unwell and had been rushed to the hospital.
Recounting the incident, Adenike said the officers later transported her and the baby to a street close to their residence once they realised Atanda was nearby.
“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. And when they saw him, they handcuffed him and took him away. That was when they released my baby and me,” she told FIJ.
FIJ reported that Atanda was immediately taken from Ikorodu to the Force Headquarters Annex in Obalende, Lagos, where he was detained for several hours before being released shortly before midnight.
The organisation linked the arrests to an earlier attempt by the police to invite Atanda for questioning. FIJ said that on November 26, an individual identified as “Omo Eleniyan,” who claimed to be attached to the Inspector-General of Police Monitoring Unit at the Force Headquarters, contacted the journalist via WhatsApp.
The message reportedly stated: “I’m a police officer attached to the IGP Monitoring Unit, Lagos Annex. An approved petition was referred to my department from the office of the Inspector-General of Police for further investigation, and your name has been mentioned and alleged.”
FIJ said Atanda responded by providing the organisation’s official email address and requested that any formal invitation be sent through that channel. However, the sender allegedly replied that the invitation was personal and not for the organisation. After Atanda insisted on official communication through FIJ, the exchange ended, with no further contact until the arrest of his wife and child on Monday evening.
In a text message response to Punch newspaper’s inquiries, the command’s spokesperson, Abimbola Adebisi, said she was still seeking details from the Force Headquarters Annex. “A reporter from FIJ called last night in this regard… I am yet to get facts on this. I’m still trying to reach FHQ Annex,” she said.
