Mrs. Oluwatosin Olatunji, wife of the abducted Editor of FirstNews, Segun Olatunji, has claimed her husband never mentioned any controversial stories he wrote before his abduction.
Olatunji was whisked away from his Iyana Odo, Abule Egba, Lagos residence on Friday night by armed men suspected to be soldiers.
The armed men were said to have arrived at the journalist’s residence a few minutes after 6 pm, reached for his phone, and seized it immediately before bundling him into a van.
The Assistant Director of Public Relations at the 9 Brigade of the Nigerian Army, Maj. Augustine Bello, did not respond to inquiries sent to his phone on Friday night.
Though no reasons have been given for the abduction, FirstNews management said in a statement on Saturday that the action could be in connection with recently published stories titled -“Revealed: Defence Chief running an office like a family business – Public Interest Lawyers”, published by many other online platforms and “EXCLUSIVE: How contractor, the company stole N100bn, laundered funds for top govt officials – Investigation” (which was later pulled down).
Reacting to the claims by the newspaper, Mrs Olatunji said she only got to know about the said stories after her husband’s abduction, adding that the editor never mentioned any threat to his life as a result of the controversy.
“He was with me three weeks ago, and he didn’t mention anything of such. I only heard about the controversial stories in the news like every other person. I am surprised as well because my husband always sends me his stories, but these particular ones, I am not aware of them,” Mrs Olatunji said on Sunday.
She described her husband as a gentle person, who is only interested in his job, adding that despite efforts by his employers (First News) to get him released, nothing had been achieved so far.
She disclosed that the closest she has got in terms of good news about the abduction was the promise made by the publisher of the newspaper, Daniel Iworiso-Markson, that her husband would be back by the end of Saturday.
“I have not heard from him since the abduction. What I was told was that his employers have started working to secure his release. My husband’s brother told me that his boss (Mr. Markson) said he would be back before the end of Saturday. Till now, I have not seen him.
“My husband is not troublesome. He is only focused on doing his job even while he was working for PUNCH,” she added.
