SaharaReporters reported earlier that the police authorities confirmed the arrest of a popular whistleblower, known only by his pseudonym @PIDOMNIGERIA.
The Nigeria Police Force (NPF) has reportedly subjected Isaac Bristol, a microblogger and undercover journalist known popularly as @PIDOMNigeria, to inhumane treatment after he was picked on August 5, 2024.
SaharaReporters reported earlier that the police authorities confirmed the arrest of a popular whistleblower, known only by his pseudonym @PIDOMNIGERIA.
It had reported that the whistleblower was declared missing after his long absence from the digital space.
He was well known for exposing high-profile corruption and human rights abuses in Nigeria, and had gone silent since August 15, 2024.
With over 200,000 followers, his prolonged absence sparked concerns among the Nigerian online community, prompting a trending campaign, #FreePidom, calling for his release.
SaharaReporters also revealed that a document circulating on the X platform titled, ‘Police Administrative Bail Condition’ and dated August 15, 2024, the same day the whistleblower stopped being active online, alleged that @PIDOMNIGERIA, was identified as Bristol Isaac.
However, on Friday, an intervention team involving Omoyele Sowore, David Hundeyin, Raphael Adebayo, Deji Adeyanju and FIJ was able to establish that the Force Criminal Investigation Department (FCID) housed Bristol after the National Cybercrime Center (NCCC) tracked and abducted him from a location in Nigeria’s southeast.
Narrating his ordeal in the hands of the Nigerian Police Force, Isaac told representatives of the team that the police abducted and kept him in solitary confinement for at least six days in an anti-kidnapping unit before transferring him to a different facility.
He was later transferred to the Force Criminal Investigation Department custody.
According to FIJ, Adeyanju, who spoke with the paper in an interview after meeting with Isaac in custody on Friday, narrated how the police broke into his house and abducted him.
“He told us they came like armed robbers. They were dressed in mufti, about 15 policemen. They broke in and dragged him away like a criminal," the paper quoted Adeyanju as said.
“They threw him into a hole somewhere in an anti-kidnapping unit of the police. There, they denied him food, water and access to other human beings. He was in solitary confinement for at least six days, and they kept handcuffs on him throughout.
“He showed us his wrists; they were bruised from wearing handcuffs for that long. They did not allow him access to a lawyer or family members.”
Adeyanju also said he saw Isaac in the same clothes the police abducted him in. The microblogger had worn the same piece of clothing for at least 18 days.
With the police demanding two level 16 civil servants who owned landed property worth at least N500 million in Abuja as sureties for Isaac’s bail, the conditions for his release are stringent.
A notice issued by an investigative journalist, David Hundeyin, on Friday corroborated the police arrest.
He said the whistleblower was seen in police custody on Friday, adding that the police authorities were planning to arraign him next week.
Hundeyin wrote: “After coming under immense pressure from the Nigerian public and an intervention involving @Mazi_OJD, @YeleSowore, @adeyanjudeji, @Adebayo_Ralph and myself, @PoliceNG has confirmed that @PIDOMNIGERIA is alive and well in detention at FCID Abuja.
“A member of our intervention team on the ground in Abuja physically laid eyes on him a few minutes ago and she confirmed that he is alive and well. According to the Police, he will be arraigned in court next week.
“We are requesting a copy of his charge sheet so that a bail application can be prepared. Nigerians must keep the pressure on so that this goalpost does not shift.”