Nigerian security services raided the offices of an independent weekly newspaper critical of the government, arresting one of its staff and seizing computers, its deputy editor said on Sunday.
Friday’s raid on the Lagos offices of Insider Weekly was part of a ”witch hunt” because of the weekly’s exposes on government corruption, according to deputy editor Declan Opaladke.
”It’s a witch hunt, we have been exposing corruption in the government and they are not at all happy with us,” Opaladke said.
”All the editors are on the run. They nearly arrested me and my family.”
All copies of the latest edition were also seized and computer files taken away.
Nigerian press reports on Sunday carried a statement from the state security service claiming Insider Weekly had been ”consistently attacking, disparaging and humiliating” President Olusegun Obasanjo and other top politicians.
”It is necessary to arrest the deliberate mischief and misinformation … We are left with no choice but to act decisively,” it read.
A Nigerian police spokesperson refused to comment. — Sapa-AFP