Chukwudi Nweje
Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has filed a fundamental rights enforcement suit at the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Court of Justice in Abuja against the Federal Government and the Cross River State Government for the continued detention of Agba Jalingo.
Jalingo, who is the publisher of CrossRiverWatch, was arrested on August 22 over a report alleging that Governor Ben Ayade diverted N500 million belonging to the state.
SERAP in the suit number ECW/CCJ/APP/10/2020 filed last week on behalf of SERAP by its solicitor Kolawole Oluwadare, argued that: “The sole objective of the government of Nigeria and the Cross River state government of governor Ben Ayade is to perpetually keep Agba Jalingo in arbitrary detention and to silence him simply for expressing critical views and carrying out his legitimate job as journalist.”
The organisation alleged that the arrest and continued detention of Jalingo is not the first time the Federal Government and the Cross River State Government would arrest and detain journalists in attempt to stop them from doing their work.
SERAP is seeking among others a declaration that the continued detention and prosecution of Jalingo “violates his human rights, as guaranteed under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights.”
No date has been fixed for the hearing of the suit.