The correspondent of The Nation newspaper in Calabar, Cross River State, Nicholas Kalu, was on Monday arrested at the Cultural Center, Calabar, venue of the #RevolutionNow protest in the state.
Kalu was arrested with some members of the African Action Congress and taken to the State Police Command Headquarters at Diamond Hill in Calabar.
Speaking on the arrest, Chairman, Nigerian Union of Journalists, Victor Udu, condemned the arrest and called for the immediate release of the journalist.
Udu said: “I condemn the act totally, the journalist was just doing his job, he did not go there with any weapon; we call for his immediate and unconditional release.”
Similarly, a human right lawyer, James Ibor, said the arrest of the journalist was regrettable and uncalled for.
Ibor said: “The arrest of a journalist who went to scout for information to brief the public is condemnable and it is a way of ensuring that not just the public is gagged, but the press also.”
In his reaction, the Commissioner of Police in the state, Austin Agbonlahor, said all the people arrested in relation to the protest are in police custody.
Agbonlahor said they would undergo interrogations to reveal who is a journalist and who is not.
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