Journalistic Escapade Of Fejiro Oliver And The Rest Of Us
By Bar. Omes Ogedegbe, Esq.
LAGOS SEPTEMBER 23RD (URHOBOTODAY)-After my open letter to the Commissioner of Police, I later had a phone conversation with him. At a point, the Police boss asked me a question that pierced through me: “How many times did you call Fejiro Oliver to caution him on his journalistic escapades?”
That question has lingered. The truth is simple: Fejiro Oliver is an adult. He is aware of his choices and ready to take responsibility for his actions. Even if some of us do not share his sentiments or ideology, it smacks of cowardice and betrayal to denounce him now that he is in detention. Many of those who now condemn him never openly disagreed with him when he freely aired his views.
Yes, he sometimes boasted of his connections with the former Deputy Senate President, but that does not erode his constitutional rights. He cannot be condemned unheard. The law is clear and uncompromising: every person, even if caught committing a crime, is entitled to the presumption of innocence until proven guilty.
Yet, Fejiro remains in custody, with detention legitimised through a court order. But justice is not served by the mere existence of a rubber-stamp order. Courts in Nigeria have consistently warned against the abuse of ex parte applications for detention.
The Supreme Court cautioned against granting orders that curtail personal liberty without hearing the other side, reiterating that liberty is too sacred to be taken lightly. In the case of Unilorin v. Oluwadare (2003) 3 NWLR (Pt. 808) 557, the Court of Appeal stressed that ex parte orders are meant to be temporary, sparingly granted, and never to serve as instruments of oppression. More recently, appellate courts have restated that ex parte detention orders should not be used to justify holding citizens indefinitely under the guise of “investigation.”
Section 35(4) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) makes it mandatory that a suspect must be charged to court within 24 or 48 hours (depending on whether a court is accessible), or be released on bail. Anything beyond this, even when cloaked under an ex parte order, undermines the spirit of the Constitution.
Beyond domestic law, Nigeria is equally bound by international human rights instruments. Article 6 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (Ratification and Enforcement) Act, Cap A9 LFN 2004 protects the right to liberty and prohibits arbitrary detention. Similarly, Article 9(3) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), to which Nigeria is a party, provides that anyone arrested “shall be brought promptly before a judge” and that pretrial detention should not be the norm but the exception.
Unfortunately, Nigeria has a troubling history of using ex parte detention orders against journalists and activists. The case of Omoyele Sowore, arrested in 2019 and detained for months despite repeated court orders granting him bail, remains a chilling reminder. Similarly, Agba Jalingo, a journalist from Cross River State, was arrested and held for months in 2019 over publications critical of government officials, only to be granted bail after national and international outrage. In both cases, courts eventually affirmed the illegality of prolonged detention and the supremacy of fundamental rights.
By detaining Fejiro Oliver without prompt arraignment, the authorities are not only violating Nigerian constitutional safeguards but also breaching binding international obligations and are guilty in same manner-over stepping.
Fejiro Oliver has the right to bail while investigations continue, or he should be charged to court without delay. Justice delayed is justice denied. To legitimise prolonged detention with questionable ex parte orders is not law—it is treachery.
If journalism becomes a crime and journalists are treated as common criminals, then all of us lose. Today it is Fejiro; tomorrow, it may be you or me.
A human right lawyer, Bar. Omes Ogedegbe, Esq.writes from Warri, Delta State
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