In IGP Egbetokun's Tenure, Nigerian Police Became Instrument of Journalist Persecution

Kayode Egbetokun officially vacated his role as Inspector-General of Police on February 24, 2026, with Olatunji Disu taking over immediately. Disu has expressed his dedication to upholding human rights and press freedom, a stark contrast to the practices observed during Egbetokun's leadership.

Disu's inaugural commitment signals a potential shift away from the violations and abuses that defined Egbetokun’s time as IGP.

The troubling record of Egbetokun's tenure, however, continues to attract attention as Nigerians monitor his successor's vow to protect human rights.

One notable incident involved the arrest of Jude Egbas, a deputy editor at TheCable, and his family by police from Otolo Nnewi police command in Anambra State on December 28, 2025. Egbas, along with his wife and their two young children, was detained for ten hours until police extorted a bail sum of N150,000.

This unlawful detention exemplifies a broader pattern of intimidation experienced by journalists under Egbetokun's command, highlighting the significant challenges faced by the Nigeria Police Force during his leadership.

Appointed by President Bola Tinubu on June 19, 2023, Egbetokun's administration was characterized by a systematic crackdown on media freedoms, often acting at the behest of both state and non-state actors to suppress critical journalism.

This aggressive stance has negatively impacted Nigeria's global standing regarding press freedom. According to the 2023 World Press Freedom Index by Reporters Without Borders (RSF), Nigeria was ranked 123rd out of 180 countries but saw a brief improvement to 112th in 2024 before returning to 122nd in 2025. This fluctuation indicates a deteriorating landscape for independent journalism.

The scoring from RSF also dropped from 51.3 percent in 2024 to a significantly lower 46.8 percent by 2025, attributed to increasing hostility from the state towards the media. Security conditions were noted to have declined as authorities increasingly employed violence and arbitrary arrests alongside the provisions of the Cybercrime Act to stifle investigative journalism.

During Egbetokun's period from his appointment until his resignation announcement on February 24, 2026, at least 45 journalists were reportedly assaulted or unlawfully detained, according to verified data compiled by the Press Attack Tracker, encompassing 50 documented violations.

Weaponization of the Cybercrime Act was prevalent during Egbetokun’s tenure, with police frequently misusing it to carry out arbitrary arrests. The repealed Section 24 allowed law enforcement to justify arrests based on allegations of cyberstalking and defamation. For instance, on May 1, 2024, Daniel Ojukwu, a reporter for the Foundation for Investigative Journalism, was abducted in Lagos by the police Intelligence Response Team and subsequently held incommunicado.

Female journalists faced not only the same type of aggression but were also subjected to gender-specific harassment. In a particular case from January 16, 2024, Kasarachi Aniagolu, a reporter for The Whistler, was assaulted and detained for filming a police operation, subsequently being paraded before the media as a criminal.

Under Egbetokun, the police normalized commando-style arrests, as seen on May 22, 2024, when ten armed officers executed a raid at the home of Madu Onuorah, the editor of Globalupfront Newspaper in Abuja, demonstrating the high level of aggression directed at journalists.

Only time will reveal if the approaches and commitments of IGP Disu will translate into tangible improvements in the treatment of journalists under his command. Meanwhile, the legacy of oppression left by Egbetokun remains a significant topic of commentary and concern in Nigeria's media landscape.