Breaking: DSS arrests US-based Nigerian journalist, Prof. Okey Ndibe

Operatives of the Department of State Services have arrested a United States of America-based Nigerian journalist, Professor Okey Ndibe.

According to available information, he was arrested on Monday at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos State.

This was confirmed by a Facebook post and one of Ndibe’s fiends, who was a former Commissioner for Information in Anambra State, C. Don Adinuba.

“His detention on arrival has been a regular occurrence since the days of President Goodluck Jonathan for his critical articles on the Nigerian leadership,” Adinuba said.

He added: “He has not been writing in the Nigerian media in the last two years, as he concentrates on book writing and teaching at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, his alma mater.

“On each occasion he was arrested in the past, he would be released after the airport DSS officials got in touch with their superiors in Abuja.

“It is a pity that this agency doesn’t update its data base to enable the officers on duty at the airport to know that the agency does no longer regard Prof Ndibe as a security threat to the administration.

“The agency has on each occasion apologized to him for the wrongful detention.”

The Facebook post rest: “Prof Okey Ndibe, the distinguished novelist, academic and public intellectual, arrived Nigeria this morning from his base in the United States of America, and he is being detained by the State Security Services (SSS).

“The officials of the SSS insist that they are waiting for orders from above before he can be released.

“Prof Ndibe has time-bound duties he planned to accomplish in Nigeria which are being impeded by this unwarranted detention.

“This harassment by the security officers has been happening before only for them to apologize later after much harm had been done.

“It is crucial to note that Prof Ndibe has not written any journalism lately to make for this maltreatment and the recourse to higher officials of the SSS for his clearance.”