‘We’re Living In Fear’ — FirstNews Seeks Release Of Abducted Editor

• He expressed shock and distress at the journalist’s sudden disappearance by government agents
• He noted that his family and friends are in great distress. 

Daniel Iworiso-Markson, publisher of FirstNews, has urged office of the National Security Adviser and Chief Defence Staff, to do all within their powers to investigate and secure the immediate release of its editor, Segun Olatunji.

Olatunji, a former Kaduna bureau chief of The PUNCH, was reportedly abducted from his home in Iyana Odo, Abule Egba area of Lagos on Friday.

His plea followed the continuous disappearance of Olatunji several days after he was abducted in Lagos.

Daniel Iworiso-Markson, publisher of FirstNews, said despite calls from the Nigerian Union of Journalists, the Nigerian Guild of Editors, and other respected groups, security agents seem to be treating the situation with kid gloves.

He expressed shock and distress at the journalist’s sudden disappearance by government agents, stating that his family and friends are in great distress.

“The office of the National Security Adviser, Chief of Defence Staff, DSS and all the security agencies should save Nigeria this national and international embarrassment by letting us know the whereabouts of our editor,” Iworiso-Markson said.

“They should consider the plight of the family of the abducted journalist and do the needful. We already know that the value of a human life in Nigeria amounts to nothing. But should the government not value the country’s image and the image of the government as a whole which on a daily basis is being ridiculed globally for the many lives of its citizens that are unaccounted for due to sheer failure of governance.

“At FirstNews, we are all scared for our lives at the moment. If one of us can be whisked away in such a gestapo manner without any trace of him for days and no form of government’s intervention till date, then nobody is safe.

“This is a cry for help from the NSA and the Chief of Defense Staff, including the other security agencies. We fear for our safety. We longer feel safe in our office and homes. Management and staff of First News are all living in fear. Please save us. Until our editor is released, we will not feel safe.”