Nigeria court remands journalist Daniel Ojukwu over cybercrime charges

A Federal High Court in Abuja has ordered the journalist Daniel Ojukwu held in prison until 1 December, when it will hear his bail application, after he pleaded not guilty to a 12-count cybercrime charge tied to his reporting on public spending.

Punch reported that Justice Joyce Abdulmalik ordered on Tuesday that Ojukwu be kept at the Kuje Correctional Centre, a remand of 21 days, and set the bail hearing for 1 December 2026.

Ojukwu works for the Foundation for Investigative Journalism. The charges concern articles published in 2023 and 2024 that examined spending by the Office of the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Sustainable Development Goals, according to a joint statement from Nigerian media and civil society organisations published by AllAfrica.

That statement said the reports raised questions about payments of 147.1 million naira and 47.5 million naira for classroom construction projects, and about whether solar installations reportedly completed under the projects worked.

Punch reported that one article alleged 147.1 million naira was paid to a restaurant to build classroom blocks and a skills acquisition centre at a primary school in Lagos, about two weeks before President Muhammadu Buhari left office in May 2023. The paper named the presidential aide Adejoke Orelope-Adefulire, a former deputy governor of Lagos State, as the official involved, and said the former inspector-general of police, Kayode Egbetokun, is listed as the complainant. Ojukwu and the FIJ founder Fisayo Soyombo are named as defendants.

Ojukwu's lawyer told the court his client had met all the conditions of an administrative bail granted earlier, the joint statement said. The court declined to keep him on that bail until the application is heard.

The Committee to Protect Journalists called on the Nigerian authorities to drop the charges and release him unconditionally, in a statement published by AllAfrica. Amnesty International Nigeria and the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project demanded his release, Premium Times reported. Amnesty said the prosecution and detention "appear to be part of a broader pattern of using the criminal justice system to punish journalists for exposing allegations of corruption and holding public officials accountable".

The joint statement from the media and civil society groups described the remand as an escalation in the use of criminal prosecution and cybercrime provisions against journalists, and said the law offers civil remedies where a report is disputed.

Ojukwu was arrested over the same reports in May 2024. The joint statement said he was held for 10 days; Punch said nine. Punch reported that officers from the police intelligence response team first held him at the State Criminal Investigation Department in Panti, Lagos, then transferred him to the Nigeria Police Force National Cybercrime Centre in Abuja.

Punch, in an editorial calling for his release, said the Cybercrime Act 2015 has been turned against journalists rather than against hacking and online fraud, and noted that the ECOWAS Court of Justice has ordered Nigeria to repeal or amend provisions that breach freedom of expression. The editorial said Nigeria ranked 112th of 180 countries in the 2026 World Press Freedom Index and 12th in Africa.