Society News Editor Freelance
Dibia Ufom
What should have been a routine act of journalism has now scarred one of Nigeria’s most respected media voices.
At a packed world press briefing, Azuka Ogujiuba broke down—her words trembling, her face wet with tears—as she recounted the three agonizing days she spent locked up like a criminal. Her arrest, she insists, was no accident, but a plot orchestrated by Adewale Oladapo, a.k.a. “Biggie”, CEO of Oratol, allegedly empowered by armed officers of the state.
Her so-called offense? Publishing a certified true copy of a court injunction meant to safeguard innocent land buyers.
The story runs deep. Years back, Capital Gardens boss Kennedy Okonkwo paid in full for four hectares of land bought from Oladapo. But instead of honoring the deal, the same seller reportedly made moves to reclaim the land. The case ended up in court, and a judge, wary of unsuspecting citizens being duped, issued a caveat emptor and other protective orders.
Azuka, driven by duty and conscience, made the order public. For that choice, she was hunted.
Days after honoring a police invitation and securing bail, armed men stormed her location without warning. Chaos erupted—onlookers fled, thinking it was a kidnapping. In that moment, Azuka ceased to be a journalist; she was treated like prey. She was whisked off to Abuja and caged.
Inside those walls, she endured what she describes as psychological torture: stripped of dignity, drained of strength, coerced into writing a dictated apology later paraded as voluntary.
From the podium, she did not mince words—she named names, accusing those who, she claims, emotionally and mentally brutalized her. Even more alarming, she traced the order for her arrest directly to the office of the Inspector-General of Police.
And the nightmare isn’t over. A new case now hangs over her head, while her home address has been made public—an act that feels less like procedure and more like intimidation.
This is bigger than Azuka. It is a signal to every truth-teller.
If publishing a lawful court document can be twisted into “cyberbullying” or “defamation,” then journalism itself is on trial.
