The Department of State Security Service (DSS) has released a Nigerian journalist, Adejuwon Soyinka, after detaining him for more than six hours on Sunday.
DSS operatives arrested Mr Soyinka, the West African Regional Editor of the Conversation Africa, at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos at about 5.40 a.m. on Sunday, on his arrival from the United Kingdom via a Virgin Atlantic flight.
He was driven from the airport to the SSS headquarters annex in Ikoyi, Lagos, where he was detained until about 12.30 p.m. when he was granted bail.
According to PREMIUM TIMES, they learnt that SSS decided to grant him bail following the intervention of the International Press Institute (IPI) Nigeria.
Part of his bail conditions, the agency seized his passport and asked him to provide his Nigerian address and reliable phone number through which he can be reached anytime in Nigeria.
Soyinka himself confirmed his release from the roughly six-hour detention in a text message he sent to PREMIUM TIMES at about 1.26 p.m. on Sunday.
READ MORE: DSS Operatives Arrest Nigerian Journalist Adejuwon Soyinka at Lagos Airport Upon Arrival
“I have just been released by the DSS (SSS) in Lagos. They are holding on to my passport, though. I am in an Uber ride ordered for me by the Deputy Director of DSS in Lagos,” his text message read.
He promised to speak further on his experience when he gets home.
The reason for his arrest was not immediately known, but SSS would later tell PREMIUM TIMES that its operatives “intercepted” the journalist based on a request from another government agency.
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