The State Security Service (SSS), Nigeria’s notorious secret police, today returned the travel documents of Michigan-based Nigerian blogger, Jonathan Elendu, for fear of suffering a successive debilitating defeat in court.
The State Security Service (SSS), Nigeria’s notorious secret police, today returned the travel documents of Michigan-based Nigerian blogger, Jonathan Elendu, for fear of suffering a successive debilitating defeat in court.
Mr. Elendu, who runs Elendureports.com, told Saharareporters that he will seek further legal remedies to avenge the cruel violations of his fundamental human rights which included detention, harassment and deprivation of his means of livelihood. He said that SSS officials continue to threaten him.
Only this week, the Federal High Court judge in Abuja declared the arrest and detention of another blogger, Emmanuel Asiwe of Huhuonline.com, null, void and illegal, and awarded damages in favor of Mr. Asiwe.
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This development forced the SSS to release the travel documents and personal properties earlier confiscated from the two bloggers, both of whom were arrested late last year on the orders of the sickly Nigerian president, Umaru Yar'adua. The Yar'adua regime is highly intolerant of the critical media, and has embarked on a series of strategies to shut down online bloggers. Analysts say the principal target of this witch-hunt is Saharareporters, but the government has yet to fault any of our investigative stories, many of which have been proved right by subsequent developments in the country.
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