The Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) says it’s working hard to secure the release of two members currently remanded at the Mandala Correctional Centre in Ilorin.

Peoples Gazette earlier reported that Dare Akogun and Abdulrasheed Akogun were petitioned by Rafiu Ajakaiye, Chief Press Secretary to Kwara State governor Abdulrahman Abdulrasak, over an allegation of defamation of his boss on WhatsApp.

The Kwara State Council of the NUJ says efforts are on to settle the case amicably, while the union’s national council works on securing the human rights of its members.

Omotayo Ayanda, the Kwara NUJ Secretary in a statement, denied that the union participated in or engineered a protest over the matter.

“The Kwara NUJ wishes to clarify that none of its members staged a protest at the Headquarters of the Kwara State Police Command, Ilorin, in the early hours of Friday (October 14, 2022) over the detention of the said members of the Union, on the strength of the petition written by CPS to the Kwara State Governor, Rafiu Ajakaye.

“While we recognize that it is the exclusive preserve of people, who feel aggrieved to register their displeasure over the decision of the state police command to detain both Dare Akogun and Abdulrasheed Akogun, as constitutionally guaranteed, the public should be aware that no member of the state council of NUJ participated in the protest that allegedly culminated in the dispersal of the protesters,” the statement read.

The union added that it appreciates the partnership it enjoys with the state police and state government over the years and “pleads such cooperation lives on.”