Nigerian Curiosity is maintaining regular contact with Jonathon Elendu’s family and is publishing regular updates on his detention. The reports are reminiscent of the ugly days of Abacha when disappearance, detention and torture of journalists, activists, politicians, writers, and just about anyone who dared to dissent, where regular occurrences. This latest update reports that Elendu is no longer in SSS custody but has been transferred to the custody of Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) which is responsible for corruption. As NG asks, how do you go from being charged with sedition and money laundering to corruption in one week?

Meanwhile the Nigeria’s Human Rights Writers Association (HURIWA) write that Elendu has been tortured whilst in custody.

According to Nigeria’s Human Rights Writers Association (HURIWA), detained Nigerian blogger, Jonathan Elendu has been “tortured to either disclose the sources of the several embarrassing news reports on prominent political leaders in Nigeria” and is on a hunger strike because he is afraid that he will be poisoned in jail. HURIWA’s National Coordinator, Mr. Onwubike also said that Elendu “was also being reportedly pressured into framing up some others.”

FRIDAY 31ST OCTOBER - FREE JONATHON ELENDU DAY

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Nigeria
Jonathon Elendu

In 2007, “Imagine This” by Nigerian writer Sade Adeniran won the Commonwealth Prize for best first book for the Africa. This is one of the books I have been meaning to read but haven’t got round to (a list that is becoming way to long) “Imagine This” is now on the list for “World Book Day campaign, Books to Talk About”. You can vote for the book at “Spread the Word - Books To Talk About”

Via NaijaBlog

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Books To Talk About
Nigeria
Sade Adenrian + Imagine This

The above photo posted by Kayode Ogundamisi on his Facebook blog is allegedly the son of President Y’aradua published on Sahara Reporters which is fast gaining fame and no doubt fortune from publishing similar photos of Nigeria’s “royal” family.

Kayode writes:

Dear All,
Thanks to the citizens platform Saharareporters.com we now can see the mentality of Mr President Umoru Musa Yaradua and His goons in Aso Rock and how reckless those in power let kids run amock in the presidency.
The pics you are about to see bellow’s been published on SR. I am bringing them to you on Face Book with permission from the peoples platform S.R to send a message to the Nigerian government that the clampdown on bloggers at home and in the diaspora by the Yaradua Government and the SSS will never stop us from standing on the side of the people.
The arrest of Elendu on the suspicion of working for Sahara reporters is an indication that the dictator in Yaradua is coming home to roost!
Kayode Ogundamisi.
NB Bellow Pictures that will shock you.

Another contribution to the saga published on various Nigerian Facebook posts and blogs provides another dimension to the Elendu arrests by the SSS whose incompetence is both hysterical and terrible at the same time. The author claims to know members of the SSS who from his description are not the brightest of people and not so bright people with power and guns is very scary indeed. The point though is none of this is particularly surprising. Only those in cuckoo land believed the country had moved on from the mindset of military dictatorship. It’s always been just below the surface and in some areas like the Niger Delta way above ground.

“Jonathan Elendu and the SSS by Rudolf Ogoo Okonkwo

The Nigerian State Security Service, the SSS, is so incompetent that they screw up jobs that Ajegunle police department can handle. And you know how bad you have to be to be worse than the Nigerian Police Force.

The arrest of Jonathan Elendu of the Elendureports.com is the latest of these SSS screw ups. Each display of incompetence makes a serious observer say, ‘this SSS sef.’ But this latest one is too pathetic that it is not even funny.

First and foremost, the SSS said they were questioning Mr. Elendu about state secrets that were leaked to online news sites. In fact, the SSS mentioned Saharareporters as the site in question. Any yahoo boy in an internet café in Lagos would tell you that Mr. Elendu does not work for Saharareporters.com. How the almighty SSS failed to know that is not a surprise to all those who know the sham the SSS is?

We might as well say it here that the state secrets in question were pictures of Yar’Adua’s son, Musa, playing with bundles of crispy N1000 Naira notes in his bedroom and riding along the streets of Abuja in a convertible with a 2007 election leftover automatic weapon in his hands. This boy is only 13 years old.
[Read more…]

Via Committee to Protect Bloggers and Nigerian Curiosity

Nigeria’s State Security Service or SSS, the same intelligence agency that shut down Channels TV for legally broadcasting incorrect information about President Yar’Adua, is at it again.

Jonathan Elendu, the writer at Elendu Reports, was arrested by Nigeria’s SSS on Saturday evening upon arrival in Nigeria from the United States. Elendu was reportedly arrested to answer questions because his ‘activities’ have allegedly generated some national security issues. One publication specifically reported that Elendu was arrested for “sponsoring a guerilla news agency.”

He was held for over 24 hours before he was interrogated. A spokesperson for the SSS told the Nigerian media that the “rule of law” would be followed and that Elendu wold be given an opportunity to defend himself, saying,

“Mr. Jonathan Elendu was invited today to answer questions on matters concerning national security which has to do wtih his reports. [sic] We are following the rule of law in whatever we are doing. After the question and answer, we can now establish the facts why he was invited.”

It is not clear whether Elendu has been released or whether he will be held indefinitely. What is clear is that “other on-line publishers who are abroad run the risk of being arrested on their return to Nigeria.” Continue reading

Update
The arrest of Jonathan Elendu is one in a long line of attacks against freedom of the press in Nigeria (arrests, harassments and murder of anyone critical of the government) and one which is particularly characteristic of military dictatorships the remnants of which continue to remain active in the country.

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Jonathan Elendu
Nigeria
Elendu Reports
Nigerian Bloggers
Nigeria SSS

Hundreds of Nigerian prisoners are being held on death row many of whom have been tortured or whose trials were not conducted properly.

“The police are overstretched and under-resourced. Because of this, they rely heavily on confessions to ’solve’ crimes - rather than on expensive investigations,” Ms van Kregten said.

Ledap, the Nigerian legal organisation which co-authored the report, says that under Nigerian law, confessions under torture cannot be used as evidence in court

Judges know that there is widespread torture by the police - and yet they continue to sentence suspects to death based on these confessions, leading to many possibly innocent people being sentenced to death,” Ledap’s national co-ordinator Chino Obiagwu said.

The report ties in with an interview I did last year with Damien Ugwu from the Nigerian Civil Liberties Organisation on torture by police in Nigeria. Damien highlighted the police tendency to target young men, poor people as criminals. The torture statistics are extremely high with 99% of people detained by the police were likely to experience physical or mental torture. Most of the torture is performed by by junior ranking police officers many of whom have not had proper training plus they are under pressure to get results. Although there is no official policy there is a culture of torture with most police stations having a torture chamber and an officer in charge of torture.

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Nigeria
Police Torture
Civil Liberties