The Nigeria Police Force has released Adenike Atanda, the wife of a senior investigative reporter with the Foundation for Investigative Journalism (FIJ), after she was reportedly detained alongside her nine-month-old baby in the Owutu area of Ikorodu, Lagos State.
FIJ disclosed that Adenike and the infant were freed on Monday evening, shortly after her husband, Sodeeq Atanda, was arrested by police operatives. Atanda, a senior reporter with the organisation, was later released the same night.
According to FIJ, Adenike and her baby were taken to a police station in Owutu, where they were held for several hours. During the detention, officers allegedly asked her to contact her husband.
In her account, Adenike said she was instructed to call Atanda and tell him that their baby was ill and had been taken to the hospital.
“When they realised my husband was no longer far from the house, the policemen drove me and my baby to a street not far from our home. When they saw him, they handcuffed him and took him away. That was when they released my baby and me,” she said.
FIJ reported that Atanda was taken from the area to the Force Headquarters Annex in Obalende, Lagos, where he was held for several hours before being released just before midnight.
The organisation linked the incident to an earlier attempt by the police to invite Atanda for questioning. FIJ said that on November 26, a person who identified himself as “Omo Eleniyan,” claiming to be attached to the Inspector-General of Police Monitoring Unit, contacted Atanda via WhatsApp.
The message stated that a petition had been forwarded from the office of the Inspector-General of Police and that Atanda’s name had been mentioned, prompting an invitation for questioning.
FIJ said Atanda responded by providing the organisation’s official email address and requested that any formal invitation be sent through that channel. The sender, however, reportedly insisted that the invitation was personal and not addressed to the organisation. After Atanda maintained that official communication should go through FIJ, the conversation ended, with no further contact until Monday evening.
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As of the time of reporting, the Lagos State Police Command had not issued an official statement explaining the circumstances surrounding the detention and release of Atanda’s wife and child.
Reacting to an enquiry, the Police Public Relations Officer of the Lagos State Command, SP Abimbola Adebisi, said she was yet to get full details of the incident.
“A reporter from FIJ called last night in this regard. I am still trying to reach the Force Headquarters Annex to get the facts,” she said.
