Committee To Protect Journalists Celebrates Jones Abiri’s Release From Prison

The Committee to Protect Journalists has expressed delight over the release after over two years in detention of Jones Abiri, publisher and editor-in-chief of the Weekly Source newspaper.

Abiri was released from prison on Wednesday after rigorous legal battle by human rights lawyer, Femi Falana, various rights organisation including the CPJ, Amnesty International, Ijaw Youth Council among others.

CPJ, in a statement over the release urged Nigerian authorities to drop all charges against Abiri and ensure those responsible for his over two years in detention without trial or family visitation are held accountable.

“Jones Abiri should never have been arrested nor kept in detention by the Department of State Security for over two years, and we call for all charges against him to be dropped immediately,” Muthoki Mumo, CPJ’s sub-Saharan Africa representative, said from Nairobi, Kenya.

“The ongoing efforts to prosecute Jones Abiri are a grave indication of the lengths to which the government of President Muhammadu Buhari will go to intimidate journalists in Nigeria.”

On June 21, 2018, 20 organizations joined CPJ in writing a letter to Buhari calling for Abiri’s release.

Nigerian journalist Jones Abiri (left) and Alagoa Morris (right) in Abuja after Abiri’s release from detention on August 15, 2018. (Alagoa Morris)