IPC urges DSS DG to intervene, halt incessant harassment of its Executive Director, Lanre Arogundade, at Lagos Airport

"He was harassed for nearly 40 minutes, as they claimed his name was still flagged on their watchlist, contradicting the assurance given two years prior by the Director General of the State Security Service, Mr. Yusuf Magaji Bichi, that his name had been removed"

Yemi BalogunApril 18, 20241.1k

The International Press Centre (IPC), Lagos, has called on the Director-General of the Department of State Services (DSS) and their officers stationed at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Lagos, to immediately stop further harassment of Mr. Lanre Arogundade, the Executive Director of IPC.

Melody Akinjiyan, the Press Freedom Officer at IPC, strongly denounced the ongoing harassment of Arogundade in a statement that Persecond News obtained.

“On Thursday, April 11, as Mr. Arogundade prepared to board an Air France flight to Berlin, Germany, to attend vital general meetings and conferences of the African Freedom of Expression Exchange (AFEX) and the International Freedom of Expression Exchange (IFEX), he once again found himself subject to this unwarranted treatment,” the statement said.

“We are deeply dismayed by the relentless harassment suffered by Mr. Lanre Arogundade, Executive Director of the International Press Centre (IPC), at the hands of the State Security Service (DSS), during an incident at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport in Lagos, Nigeria.”

As a distinguished journalist, a vocal advocate for social justice and democracy, a former Chairman of the Lagos State Council of the Nigeria Union of Journalists, and a former President of the National Association of Nigerian Students, the statement reiterated that it is disgraceful for such an esteemed individual to continuously endure the “torment” of the DSS.

Mr. Arogundade shared his encounter with DSS officials on Facebook, remarking that he was harassed for nearly 40 minutes, as they claimed his name was still flagged on their watchlist, contradicting the assurance given two years prior by the Director General of the State Security Service, Mr. Yusuf Magaji Bichi, that his name had been removed.

This declaration was made during a meeting with the Nigerian chapter of the International Press Institute (IPI), led by Musikilu Mojeed.

Furthermore, Mr. Arogundade stated that the senior DSS official he encountered threatened to prevent him from travelling unless he provided his old passports, a demand he rightfully deemed “bizarre and ridiculous.”

IPC firmly asserted that the persistent harassment blatantly violates Mr. Arogundade’s right to freedom of movement while simultaneously undermining the fundamental principles of democracy.