Nigerian travel journalist detained in Benin on terrorism charges since January

 JournalismPakistan.com |  Published last month |  CPJ News Alert

Nigerian travel journalist Mathew Ojoduma has been held in Benin since January on terrorism charges. CPJ urges his release, while his family and lawyers report no evidence linking him to terrorism.

Summary

ABUJA—The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on authorities in Benin to release Nigerian YouTube-based travel journalist Mathew Ojoduma, who has been detained on terrorism charges since January 29.

Beninese police arrested Ojoduma, founder of the Africa Views channel, which covers African cities, when he was crossing Benin’s northern border into Burkina Faso at the town of Porga, with a camera, drone, and laptop, according to Ojoduma’s wife, Priscilla Mathew, who spoke to CPJ, and court documents, reviewed by CPJ.

“Authorities in Benin must immediately release journalist Mathew Ojoduma, who has already wasted nine months of his life in jail on spurious terrorism charges,” said CPJ Africa Director Angela Quintal. “The Nigerian government must also step up and act to ensure fair treatment of its citizen, rather than keeping silent in the face of this heinous abuse of press freedom.”

On February 13, Ojoduma was charged with membership of a terrorist organization, and his case was heard on May 19, according to a judgment issued that day by the Special Court for the Repression of Economic Offences and Terrorism (CRIET), reviewed by CPJ, and Ojoduma’s lawyer, who declined to be named, citing fear of reprisal.

The judgment said Ojoduma was “suspected of being in intelligence with terrorist groups” — a charge he denied — because of his “insistence” on traveling via Porga, “despite the prevailing climate of insecurity” there. The court referred the case to the Public Prosecutor’s Office as its criminal nature was beyond its competence. 

Northern Benin has been grappling with an increase in violent extremist attacks since 2021, as Islamic State-linked insurgents have taken control of swathes of neighboring Burkina Faso and Niger and, beyond them, Mali. Mathew said her husband intended to travel through Burkina Faso to Mali and Senegal on a reporting trip.

On July 2, CRIET ordered Ojoduma be held in pre-trial detention, according to a court order, reviewed by CPJ. Mathew told CPJ that her husband was being held at a prison in the southern city of Cotonou.

The lawyer told CPJ he appealed to CRIET, but the verdict confirmed its May 19ruling that the court did not have jurisdiction over the case.

He said CRIET told him that authorities’ search of Ojoduma’s “phones and the hard drive revealed no information in this case relating to acts of terrorism,” but he was unable to share a copy of the court document for procedural reasons.

The lawyer said the court said its analysis of Ojoduma’s computer showed he was a media specialist focusing on travel and the environment, with an interest in regional politics.

Lagos State Nigerian Bar Association Secretary Ayodeji Olabiwonnu said Ojoduma’s family asked for support advocating on Ojoduma’s behalf, and the association wrote to Nigeria’s Attorney General, Minister of Foreign Affairs, and Nigerians in Diaspora Commission requesting action, but received no replies. 

CPJ’s requests for comment, via phone, messaging app, and email, to Nigeria’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and the office of Nigerians in the Diaspora Commission, and email to the Attorney General’s office did not receive any replies.

CPJ’s emails and calls requesting comment from Benin’s ministry of justice, CRIET, police spokesperson Éric Orou Yérima, and government spokesperson Wilfried Léandre Houngbédji also went unanswered.

PHOTO CAPTION: A Nigerian journalist specializing in travel and environmental stories, Mathew Ojoduma, has been in prison in Benin since he was detained on the Benin-Burkina Faso border with a drone, camera, and laptop. His family has requested support from the Nigerian government. (Screenshot: Africa Views/YouTube)

KEY POINTS:

• Mathew Ojoduma was arrested at Benin’s northern Porga border on January 29 while traveling with a camera, drone, and laptop.
• He faces terrorism charges, accused of intelligence links with extremist groups, which he denies.
• Benin’s Special Court for the Repression of Economic Offences and Terrorism (CRIET) said the case is beyond its jurisdiction.
• Ojoduma has been held in pre-trial detention in Cotonou since July 2.
• Court analysis found no evidence of terrorism, showing Ojoduma is a media specialist focusing on travel, environment, and regional politics.
• The Nigerian government has not responded to appeals from his family and lawyers, and CPJ and other groups call for his immediate release.