NUJ, GTCO, ‘Ikoyi Four’ and triumph of diplomacy
By Achike Chude
Three days ago, the gates of Ikoyi prison were flung open, and from the bowels of the correctional centre emerged four journalists who had been in incarceration for over six months – a result of deep angst by the management of Guaranty Trust Bank (now GTCO) against the four, for an online report they deemed injurious to the organization.
Acting with ‘immediate effect and automatic alacrity’ (apologies to late Chief Eleyinmi of the Village Headmaster fame, the wheels of justice or injustice began to turn at breakneck speed as the journalists, Precious Eze, Olawale Rotimi, Rowland Olonishuwa, and Seun Odunlami – were all arrested in September 2024 by the Police Special Fraud Unit (PSFU) for violating the much criticised cybercrime law for cyber stalking and defamation.
That the four incarcerated journalists, presumed to be innocent until proven guilty had overstayed their sojourn at the Ikoyi prison was not in doubt – a fact blamed on the failure of the criminal justice system or the overbearing influence of the aggrieved party – in this case, GTCO. It was quite clear that GTCO was baying for blood and was going to take the full pound of flesh from the journalists. They were pushing for prison sentences for the suspects.
This conclusion would have been damaging to the people of the pen and would have rubbed off badly on GTCO no matter the righteousness of their cause.
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But luckily, behind the scenes, series of advocacy and diplomatic moves were going on at frenetic pace in the last two months before the gates of the prison opened up and disgorged the much traumatised Ikoyi four. Calls from colleagues, friends, and relatives of the journalists were being made across the country for some kind of intervention on their behalf. Much of these calls were directed at the leadership of the Nigeria Union of Journalists at the National Secretariat of the Union.
It was a challenge and responsibility that then presidential candidate, Alhassan Yahya, had vowed to pursue in the buildup to the Triennial Delegates Conference in November 2024 where he emerged president of the Nigeria Union of Journalists. Once elected, it was then a matter of living up to his promise to ensure the release of the beleaguered journalists.
And he did live up to his promise by the series of engagements he embarked upon with different actors across the divide to avoid a more untoward and unwholesome circumstance for our colleagues of the pen. These consultations included non-state actors and possibly one or two state actors. All these culminated to the presentation made to Justice Ayokunle Faji of the Federal High Court, Ikoyi, Lagos by lead council to GTCO, Chief A.A. Aribisala who informed the court that GTCO and the defendants had reached an amicable settlement.
While fist pumping, back slapping, and wine popping are being observed in celebration of the release of the Ikoyi four, one must commend the magnanimity and large heartedness of the management of GTCO. While criticizing the overstay of the journalists in prison for a matter that is easily bailable from day one, we must nevertheless acknowledge that GTCO had the capacity to continue with the case should it have chosen to. Happily it chose not to.
There is a lesson to be learned for the Ikoyi four. In encouraging them not to be deterred by their travails, it is important that they embark on deep reflections and introspection over this entire episode to determine if there were deviations from the core principles of journalism which are always the hallmark of good, respectful, and impactful journalism. The duty of the journalist is to operate within the bounds and boundaries of the ethics and ideals of the profession. Within the myriads of socio-economic contradictions in our much traumatized geo-political space, journalists must continually remember that their profession is called the noble profession and that they are called men and women of the noble profession.
There is a reason for that. They should always try to live up to the beauty of these words.
As for the cybercrime law, it must undergo proper surgical procedure to remove its cancerous parts.
Kudos also to the Lagos and Ogun Councils of the NUJ for not giving up on their colleagues.
Diplomacy won eventually.
The Union makes us strong.
- Achike Chude is the National Secretary of the Nigeria Union of Journalists
