Fejiro Oliver: When Silence is Not An Option

By Suleiman TAJUDEEN On Oct 14, 2025

A journalist named Tega Oghenedoro, popularly known as Fejiro Oliver, has been remanded in Ogwashi-Uku prison in Delta state after more than three weeks in illegal detention. His crime was that “between the months of August and July, 2025, in Asaba, within the Asaba Judicial Division, did make publications on your Facebook account with the name Fejiro Oliver, cyberstalking His Excellency Sheriff Oborevwori, the Governor of Delta State,” according to court documents filed at the Asaba Judicial Division.

The journalist was accused of stating that the governor travelled to Brazil, without making it public, and that he gave “contracts to his boys worth billions of Naira for rigging the election.” He was also said to have sent government officials to China to go and inspect CNG buses instead of attracting investors! Oliver was brought to court for the first time last Thursday, with his bail application adjourned to
October 16, 2025.

His arrest reportedly followed a petition filed by Freeborn Eghagha, an aide to Governor Oborevwori, accusing him of defaming the governor by referring to him as “Governor Amuneke” in a series of critical
online reports.

All lovers of freedom and free speech must be worried by the hostility shown to journalists by some of our political leaders who can’t take criticisms and jibes from the public. We have seen a raft of official
malevolence to reporters in recent times.

We have seen a state governor shutting down a private radio station for broadcasts considered critical of the governor. We have seen reporters picked up by security agencies, reportedly on the orders of state officials.

In 2024 alone, the Nigerian press faced relentless attacks and assaults, with at least 17 journalists unlawfully detained on dubious charges under the Cybercrime Act. One of them is Kasarahchi Aniagolu,
a colleague of mine at THE WHISTLER who was detained and assaulted by police in Abuja while covering a police raid. Her equipment was confiscated, and she was subjected to harassment and physical assault.

Segun Olatunji, a former editor of First News, was also abducted from his Lagos home by armed men who identified themselves as military officers, allegedly on the orders of a presidency official. Founder of
FIJ, Fisayo Soyombo, was also detained by the Nigerian Army during an undercover investigation into oil bunkering.

The arrest of Mr Oliver, who’s the publisher of Secret Reporters, followed the same pattern. Reports said he was abducted from Abuja on September 18, 2025, and subsequently flown to Delta State aboard a
private jet linked to Governor Oborevwori, and later detained at the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID) in Asaba.

The journalist was subsequently charged with violating Section 24(2)(c)(ii) of the Cybercrime (Prohibition, Prevention, etc.) Act, 2015 (as amended) — the same provision routinely used by Nigerian authorities to clamp down on journalists and online critics.

No one is making the case that journalists have licence to be reckless, far from it. Journalists and media organisations have the ethical responsibility to uphold the truth at all times in the public
interest. Reporting with evidence is also a burden that journalists
must carry in the discharge of their duties.

No responsible journalist will deliberately publish falsehood. But when media practitioners breach their own ethics and step into libellous territories, the response is not to trample on the law but to uphold it. Those who are aggrieved have the right to seek redress in court, and must exercise that right in the interest of truth and society.

A state governor has the resources to engage lawyers and seek redress in court if it’s about exoneration from allegations. Recourse to self-help help as Governor Oborevwori has done, is unconstitutional and should be condemned by all. An elected leader must be seen promoting the rule of law and not compromising it.

The governor gains nothing by threading this route. Instead, he stands to lose more. Acts like this will call his integrity to question in the court of public opinion. By seeking to extract revenge on Mr Oliver, using state instruments, Governor Oborevwori is trying to silence free speech and muzzle the freedom of the press. Such crooked action is the foundation block of authoritarianism.

Why is the Nigeria Union of Journalists silent? Why is the Nigerian Bar Association silent? Why is civil society so inaudible on this issue? They all must rise to condemn the descent into dictatorship. Their voices must be heard loud enough against forces seeking to silence the public conscience.

Nigeria must not be allowed to join the list of countries where political persecution is hushing voices of accountability and transparency. Democracy thrives better and serves the people better when leaders are accountable.

I commend the Executive Director of the International Press Center, Mr. Lanre Arogundade, for his intervention on the matter of Mr Oliver. In a statement condemning the Delta State government, Arogundade said, “Journalists have a constitutional obligation to report issues of interest to the public and should not be barred or harassed in the course of such reportorial duties.”

He urged government officials to uphold democratic principles and refrain from abusive use of power and office to muzzle journalists and other independent voices at the faintest criticism.

Tonnie Iredia, former director general of NTA, in a 2021 article titled “Dangers of Silencing the Media,” said it is counterproductive in an age of technology and citizen journalism, where there are limitless channels of communication.

The way forward, according to the media expert, is for the media to be encouraged to objectively criticise public policy or failure of government and promote public debates. Government officials must not
be shy from engaging critics in media debates over government policies or actions of its officials. Such debates are desirable and promote transparency. Governments that engage the media or critics in public
debates on any controversial issue stand to gain in integrity and public trust.

On the other hand, the pursuit of truth in the public interest is at the core of the Journalism profession, and media practitioners must uphold professional ethics. Journalism will not thrive on rumours and fake news. Only fidelity to the truth and evidence will give the media credibility and engender public trust.

Two wrongs can not make a right!

Tajudeen Suleiman is an Abuja-based journalist