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March 14, 2023
SaharaReporters gathered that the journalists were arrested by the officers from Nigeria Police Zone 7 Headquarters, Abuja on Wednesday, February 22 following a petition by Adaobi.
Some lawless policemen acting on the orders of a female lawyer in Abuja identified as Adaobi Alagwu have arrested and subsequently detained the editor and a reporter of TheNewsGuru.com, Ediri Oyibo and Paul Utebor.
SaharaReporters gathered that the journalists were arrested by the officers from Nigeria Police Zone 7 Headquarters, Abuja on Wednesday, February 22 following a petition by Adaobi.
She was said to have accused them of publishing a story, which she described to be defamatory, on the paternity of her child with Nigerian businessman and former chairman of defunct Skye Bank, Tunde Ayeni.
Ayeni is currently enmeshed in a paternity mess with the lady.
He is alleged to have fathered a child, a baby girl, with Adaobi, a claim he has blatantly refused to accept.
The female lawyer was a classmate of the businessman’s daughter.
The journalists were said to have published a rebuttal where Ayeni dissociated himself from rumours spreading on the paternity tussle.
The police through a letter dated February 15, 2023 invited the duo for an interview with the Deputy Commissioner of Police in Charge of Zonal Criminal Investigation Department on Wednesday, February 22.
The invitation letter was signed by one DCP Kabiru A. Shehu.
The police claimed in the letter that they were investigating a case of criminal conspiracy, defamation of character, giving false information and threat to life against the journalists over a story on the paternity of a child.
They were however detained upon their arrival at the station and subsequently charged to court at the instance of Adaobi.
The journalists, who have spent four days in detention under degrading conditions, have also been denied administrative bail despite meeting the conditions when they were asked to provide a public servant not less than level 14 as surety.
Surprisingly, upon meeting the bail conditions, on Friday, February 24, the police hurriedly in a commando style charged them to the FCT Chief Magistrate Court located at Wuse Zone 6 after they had got wind that the court would not be sitting.
The journalists and representatives of the Nigerian Union of Journalists were made to sit in an empty court until an officer simply identified as OC Legal casually walked in and uttered that the journalists should bear until next week Tuesday before they could be granted bail.
They were subsequently arraigned the following week and granted bail.
“The case against the journalists is still in court; can’t our policemen have shame for once? They arrested journalists because of Adaobi. This woman used them to harass, detain journalists for doing nothing wrong basically, this is abuse of power and the Inspector General of Police should look into it.
“Her relationship with Ayeni has scattered his house, his wife and kids are angry and ashamed of him. She wasn’t satisfied with that; she started bullying journalists and unnecessary power play. She should direct her anger at Ayeni instead of harassing journalists doing their job,” a source told SaharaReporters.
Ayeni had denied being the father of the lawyer’s baby.
The businessman through his media team claimed that he was not the father of her child, adding that he had ended their relationship in 2019.
“To continue to spread this unfounded tale is not only unfair to our friend, but also an embarrassment to the lady who knows the father of her baby. Tunde has got nothing to do with this.
“In 2016, businessman Tunde Ayeni met and dated Ada briefly, and being a perfect gentleman he had presumed her to be a decent and respectable lady, one who can be considered for future prospects should the possibility arise. But alas! A Leopard cannot hide its spot for too long. Realising that he could not cope with her numerous escapades and being a highly responsible individual, He called off the relationship at once within just a matter of months.
“Having ended the relationship with Ada, Mr. Tunde Ayeni moved on with his life since 2019 and had put all the unpleasant experience in the past. It came as a rude shock and is highly traumatising, the recent rumor gaining grounds within the FCT of a paternity row between Ada and Tunde,” a statement by his media team had read.
However, sources familiar with the duo’s relationship confirmed Ayeni as the father of the baby.
“Isn’t it funny that Tunde Ayeni is in a pregnancy dispute with a 30 years old girl, younger than his first and only daughter,” a relative of Adaobi had told SaharaReporters.
He described Ayeni’s statement as a panic move and an attempt to shut Adaobi up because “he suddenly realised his folly and the lifetime pain this has brought on his long suffering wife and children. Not only is Adaobi Alagwu as young as his daughter, she was in fact in the same class as his daughter.
Another source had described Adaobi as a temperamental lady who is lost likely hell bent on ensuring Ayeni takes responsibility of the child and continue to foot her bills.