Mr Kunle Akogun is the father of two Ilorin-based journalists, Messrs Dare and Abdulrasheed Akogun, who are being tried by the police on the complaints of the Chief Press Secretary to the Kwara State Governor, Mr Rafiu Ajakaye. Akogun speaks to DANIEL AYANTOYE about the matter

Tell us about your relationship with Dare and Abdulrasheed Akogun?

I am their father. They are both married with children. Dare, who is the elder brother, is an online editor at Sobi FM, a private-owned media establishment in Ilorin; Abdulrasheed, on the other hand, is the publisher of Fresh Insight Newspaper, also based in Ilorin, Kwara State.

What can you say about their activities as journalists in Kwara State?

Let me start by taking you back a bit. You see, Abdulrasheed's online newspaper has been a serious thorn in the flesh of the Kwara State Government, exposing all forms of (alleged) corrupt practices, misappropriation of funds and a lot of misdemeanors in government, which the government is not comfortable with. But since he has been doing this, they have not been able to fault him because he always backs his reports up with concrete evidence, facts and quotes from executive committee meeting reports and so on. So, they had been looking for a way nail him. In fact, there was a report that saved the Kwara State Government a lot of money and casualties. It's about the new overhead bridge they constructed along Tanke Road in Ilorin. When the contract was awarded without the government following due process, Fresh Insight Newspaper released a report on it that the contractor was the same that handled the construction of a bridge in Rivers State that collapsed under two or three weeks after completion and delivery. After that report, the government immediately changed the contractor and awarded the contract to another firm. This shows you that Abdulrasheed's newspaper always reports facts. And for Dare, he has also been active through the medium he works with, Sobi FM. The radio station also always reports any irregularities within government; the station always criticises the government. So, with all they do, I believe the government had been looking for a way to nail both of them and they are using this issue.

We understand that they are currently facing trial, what really happened?

The issue that transpired started through a WhatsApp group called Kwara Commission. Both of my sons were members of the platform, which has a lot of other people, including the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Rafiu Ajakaye. So, an argument ensued; you know how it happens on WhatsApp – somebody will introduce a topic; people will post their opinions. So, one of the issues that came up was about government's interference in issues that should normally not concern the government. The particular issue that was mentioned was that of the students' association election. Someone mentioned that the election was disrupted and another alleged that government influenced the election, maybe because the government's candidate was not going to win. Another person remarked that it was typical of government to always try to influence such things. The person went on to cite the example of the last election of the Nigeria Union of Journalists, Kwara State chapter, in which my son, Dare, was a chairmanship candidate and he was very popular with the people but just a few hours to the election, everything changed and everybody was alleging that money from government exchanged hands to influence the election. It was believed that government wasn't comfortable with Dare, who is a staff of Sobi FM that always criticises the government, becoming the Chairman of the NUJ in the state. So, at the end of the day, the opponent won allegedly because he was from the state government-owned media organisation. They alleged that government used money to sway the voting pattern and that the CPS facilitated government intervention.

It was that WhatsApp group discussion that the CPS capitalised upon and took as an opportunity to finally nail my sons. He then wrote a petition, singling out only the comments made by my sons in the whole discussion. He ignored all other remarks by others who commented on the WhatsApp group. The boys were invited by the police and they did so voluntarily; nobody forced them. They wrote their statements at the station but at the end of the day, the police said they would detain them and charge them in court and at that time it was already around 10pm.

How did you hear about the case?

My sons called me immediately and told me they had been invited by the police.

Your sons were reportedly accused of inciting the public against the Kwara State Government and defaming the CPS. Did that come to you as a surprise?

It is politically-motivated; it's an act of vendetta and it's vicious. It's like a carryover of an already bottled up anger. For a WhatsApp group discussion that you have so many people as participants, why pick on only my sons among all the people that contributed to the discussion? It shows that the CPS has something up his sleeves. He took advantage of something very flimsy to get at them. He already had a lot of things against them. Where is the defamation in the WhatsApp discussion? It is not even as if the two boys were the administrator of the WhatsApp group. I think if anything happens in a WhatsApp group, the admin must be aware and should have been joined as one of the accused persons, but that is not the case in this matter. There were even other people who made weightier remarks in that WhatsApp discussion, but he just chose to singled out the comments by my children. We know where he is coming from.

Did you know about the crowd that reportedly went to the police headquarters to protest against your son's detention?

What happened was that the police said on Thursday night that they would take both of them to court on Friday. So, their supporters went to the police headquarters so they could escort them to the court; but when they got there, the Deputy Commissioner of Police (Operations) told them that Abdulrasheed and Dare had been released. So, the people were surprised and queried the claim, knowing that the boys were still in the police custody until late night of the previous day. There were fears about whether the police did something to them overnight. So, that created some uproar, and the police, in response, started releasing tear gas. Somebody alleged that a life bullet was shot in the process. They said one of the people was also wounded and someone was hospitalised. In fact, as we speak, the person should still be at UITH.

Do you think the police are taking sides in this matter?

Well, personally I believe that the police have shown a lot of bias in the whole issue. Somebody wrote a petition, you didn't give the accused persons the benefit of seeing the petition; you just said until they get to court. Immediately the petition was submitted, even before the police started acting, the CPS went to press to publish that they had been detained, whereas, they had even yet to be invited then. He was trying to pre-empt police. People were even saying that such an action should have been queried by the police. In fact, I was told that the police commissioner was telling my sons to apologise, but they refused because they knew they did nothing wrong. The CP practically tried to force them to write an apology letter, but the boys refused because they believe what they have said was true. They told the police that what they wrote on social media was nothing but the truth. So, the police decided to detain them.

What happened when they were taken to court?

On Friday, they were in court around 11am but they were told there was no magistrate to preside over the case. They didn't get a magistrate until around 2:30pm after Jumat. The first magistrate they got declined to entertain the case. Everyone waited at the court, including their (my sons') supporters. Surprisingly, after a while, the police brought out a warrant of detention, saying they would further detain them without any prior sitting or hearing on the case. So, the people around flared up, that such was an act of injustice. That was when they quickly looked for another magistrate, who eventually presided over the case. But they didn't allow our lawyer to represent the boys because the person who led the group of lawyers was a Senior Advocate of Nigeria. The magistrate said a SAN could not appear before a lower court. But the SAN said he didn't mind; however, the magistrate insisted he could not appear. The case was then adjourned till September 10, 2022. But the magistrate ordered that my sons should be remanded at Mandala Medium Correctional Centre till then.

The way they manhandled my sons at the court was totally unjust. They chained them and I wonder why they had to chain someone for a 'civil offence', when they are not criminals. The police are supposed to be an arbiter but what we've seen is that they are taking sides in this matter. The way the boys were taken to court with handcuffs for a civil offence, knowing that they didn't resist arrest and they were not violent, is totally uncalled for. Are they murderers, are they criminals? No; but that's the way the police chose to do their job.

Are there any efforts or move to resolve the case amicably out of court?

Actually, some people intervened and are looking at the possibility. Some journalists, friends, Nigerian Institute of Public Relations, where they are both members, Igbomina Association, and several others have intervened. We hope for a positive result. Politics is at the foundation of this issue, so if a political solution is to be explored, no problem. People are surprised that it has escalated beyond expectation. I know that some effort will be made in this regard.

As a journalist, a PR person, I think it's not too good for public relations persons to engage journalists in this type of mess. I believe the CPS too is a PR person trying to manage the image of the government; but one should know that journalists are a special breed of people; you cannot fight them and you cannot make friends with them too much because the journalist who criticises you today can be your friend tomorrow and vice versa. And this is the first time in the history of this state that a journalist will be subjected to this kind of trauma, especially by a fellow journalist. Not even during the military administration was any journalist treated this way. So, that to me is a minus to this government. Maybe this is the way these people feel they can approach this issue, but let's see how it will turn out. Maybe they have forgotten that people are noticing what is going on.

This has been a traumatic experience for my family. In fact, the Friday that they were taken to court, was the day for the public presentation of a book I wrote. People were surprised how I was able to comport myself and present my speech. It was after the programme that I went to meet them at the court.

Their mother had some health challenges and this issue has made her health to deteriorate. Also, we had to go bring their wives and children from their houses to be with us. It has really been a very traumatic experience.