FIJ Reporter’s Wife And Baby Freed After Police Detention In Lagos

According to Ireporter Online, the Nigeria Police Force has released Adenike Atanda, wife of senior investigative reporter Sodeeq Atanda of the Foundation for Investigative Journalism (FIJ), along with their nine-month-old child, following a brief detention in the Owutu area of Ikorodu, Lagos State.

FIJ reported that Adenike and the infant were released on Monday evening, shortly after the police arrested her husband, who was also later freed. Prior to her release, Adenike and the baby were reportedly held at a police station for several hours, where officers allegedly instructed her to contact her husband, telling him that their child was unwell and had been taken to the hospital.

In her account shared with FIJ, Adenike said that once the police realized her husband was nearby, they took her and the baby to a street close to their home. The officers reportedly handcuffed Atanda before taking him away, at which point she and her child were released.

Sodeeq Atanda was then taken to the Force Headquarters annex in Obalende, Lagos, where he was detained for several hours before being released just before midnight. FIJ linked the incident to an earlier attempt to summon Atanda for questioning.

On November 26, a person claiming to be attached to the Inspector-General of Police Monitoring Unit contacted Atanda via WhatsApp regarding an approved petition that allegedly involved him. Atanda requested that any formal communication be sent through FIJ’s official channels. The sender insisted the invitation was for him personally, and no further communication occurred until the recent detention of his wife and child.

As of press time, the Lagos State Police Command had not issued an official statement explaining the circumstances of the detention and subsequent release. When contacted, SP Abimbola Adebisi, the Police Public Relations Officer, stated that she was still seeking facts from the Force Headquarters annex.