#KeepFisayoSafe Trends Over Undercover Report on Corruption in Nigeria’s Criminal And Justice System
- Activists, journalists commends Fisayo Soyombo for job well done.
- He alleged that there are attempts to get him arrested.
Twitter has been buzzing over, Fisayo Soyombo an award-winning investigative reporter,
Some Nigerians have been on social media calling on the Federal Government to ensure the safety of Fisayo with the trend #KeepFisayoSafe.
Fisayo had published two out of his three-part investigative report on corruption in Nigeria’s criminal and justice system, and there have been reported attempts to get him arrested.
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The call came on Tuesday after the mediasphere was awash with reports stating that the top hierarchy of the Nigeria Correctional Services (NCS) had launched a manhunt for him. He is an editor and contributor to Al-Jazeera.
Soyombo was scheduled to speak at a workshop on fake news organised by Goethe Institute. But he pulled out after alleging he has been hinted that he Nigerian authorities’ plan to arrest him.
How he was able to discover the wrath
The journalist adopted a pseudonym Ojo Olajumoke, by spending two weeks in detention, five days in a police cell and eight as an inmate in Ikoyi Prison, to track corruption in Nigeria’s criminal justice system.
In the first of this three-part series entitled: “UNDERCOVER INVESTIGATION (I): Bribery, bail for sale… Lagos police station where innocent civilians are held and criminals are recycled” and published in The Cable and The ICIR on Monday, October 14, Soyombo uncovers how the police pervert the course of justice in their quest for ill-gotten money.
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In the second of the three-part series entitled: “UNDERCOVER INVESTIGATION (II): Drug abuse, sodomy, bribery, pimping… The cash-and-carry operations of Ikoyi Prisons“, published also in some online medium, Soyombo exposed “how the courts short-change the law, and the prisons are themselves a cesspool of the exact reasons for which they hold inmates.”
Amnesty International had expressed concern about threats to the life of Fisayo.
Below are tweets by Nigerians.
Even @officialEFCC custody. The protocol is broken.
The riots in our prisons @raufaregbesola is real as exposed by @fisayosoyombo@NigeriaGov
Should do the needful and ensure they #keepfisayosafe https://t.co/zyMf15cChY— Osazee W. Igiewe (@igieweosazee) October 23, 2019
Dear president @MBuhari, To have a corruption free society, You need to end the corruption in govt parastatals. You can’t pose a sysem that’s suppose to reintegrate citizens and have it residing on the berth of corruption while you expect the country to function. #KeepFisayoSafe
— __Ki’an (@KianDaGreat) October 22, 2019
…Nigeria’s systems are not only corrupt, they are Decaying!#KeepFisayoSafe
— Stephañy (@stefanygeorge) October 22, 2019
Seriously? They are investigating? So they never knew this was going on till now? @thecableng #keepfisayosafe . This has been a fantastic investigation by The Cable team. Please it’s time for a documentary and a film about it. It did not require such hard work before an invest’gn https://t.co/Jf4Zr6a8YQ
— Lloyd Onaghinon (@eseosalloyd) October 23, 2019
How can Journalists who unearth the rot happening in our system be threatened? What kind of Nigeria are these jesters building? Let all of them remember that what goes around comes around. Keep tearing the country apart as if your generation won’t live here. #KeepFisayoSafe
— Nancy illoh-Nnaji (@nancyilloh) October 22, 2019
The fundamental human rights provided in the Nigerian Constitution is a freaking joke and totally for decorations. #KeepFisayoSafe
— August (@Auo_ra) October 22, 2019
Attempt to arrest Fisayo Soyambo for exposing the rot in our prison system is not only an attack on human rights but also on research as an endeavour. We must tell anyone toying with the idea to purge himself/herself of this noxious hangover #keepfisayosafe
— Yunusa Ya’u (@YZYau) October 22, 2019
Dear Nigerian,
You cannot accuse Nigerian journalists of not doing investigative journalism and then not fight for our rights to life and freedom after we have done it.
It’s up to us to help #KeepFisayoSafe https://t.co/GtD0L4Jrtn
— Sandra Ezekwesili (@SEzekwesili) October 22, 2019
Amnesty International is concerned about threats to the life of Fisayo Soyombo @fisayosoyombo, an investigative #Journalist whose work recently exposed injustice & human rights violations. #JournalismIsNotAcrime #PressForFreedom #KeepFisayoSafe #Nigeria
— Amnesty Int. Nigeria (@AmnestyNigeria) October 22, 2019
The threats to the freedom, life and safety of Investigative journalist, @fisayosoyombo, who took it upon himself to expose the corrupt & illegal practices of top govt agencies, is unwarranted to say the least. The freedom of the press shouldn’t be gagged. #KeepFisayoSafe
— ITS DONJAZZY AGAIN? (@DONJAZZY) October 22, 2019
@fisayosoyombo and other investigative journalists like him who reflect the seamy sides of our hugely flawed system must be protected, not just by the people but even by governments that are genuinely committed to making change happen! #keepfisayosafe
— JJ. Omojuwa (@Omojuwa) October 22, 2019
The plan to arrest @FisayoSoyombo mean intimidation.
The role of a trained journalist is to get as close to the truth as is humanly possible.#JournalismNoBeCrime#keepFisayoSafe pic.twitter.com/nc9j1LJuaC— EiE Nigeria (@EiENigeria) October 22, 2019
The Criminal Justice System is rotten. This is no news to Nigerians and the authorities themselves and the reaction to findings of investigative journalists as well as advocates of reforms must never be belligerent. The Nigeria Correctional Service must get this! #KeepFisayoSafe
— SEGA L’éveilleur®? (@segalink) October 22, 2019
Read what I exposed to @comradephils when he came to visit me in 2017 in prison AND you all ignored me. When I tell u Fisayo Soyombo just went a step further, u think I’m seeking clout?. I commend his bravery. #KeepFisayoSafe #TwitterKemi11#Kemitalkshttps://t.co/NT0bBQDKeM pic.twitter.com/8ElqYExQ6r
— Dr Kemi Olunloyo Pharm.D (@HNNAfrica) October 22, 2019
The ‘Honorable’ Minister of Interior @raufaregbesola should call the leadership of the Nigeria Correction Service ro order in this regard. The public perception of all uniformed officers in Nigeria is negative already and this must not be made worse. #KeepFisayoSafe ?
— SEGA L’éveilleur®? (@segalink) October 22, 2019
You cannot claim to fight corruption, yet turn around to witchhunt a journalist who went undercover (at risk to his own life) to expose the biggest corruption racket within your own law enforcement agency. It shows your corruption fight is nothing but a fraud! #keepfisayosafe
— Ayò Bánkólé (@AyoBankole) October 22, 2019
