The Nigerian Police Force has declared West Africa Weekly Editor-in-Chief, David Hundeyin wanted in connection with the prosecution of Isaac Bristol, accused by the Nigeria Police Force of being the prominent anonymous online whistleblower PIDOM Nigeria.
Newsonspot reports that in a statement released on Tuesday by the Force Public Relations Officer, ACP Olumuyiwa Adejobi, Hundeyin and Michael Temidayo Alade were listed as alleged accomplices of PIDOM.
Bristol, who was arraigned at the Federal High Court Abuja, on Tuesday has been remanded for a minimum of 7 days at Kuje prison. He was arraigned on charges of money laundering, cybercrime, and unlawfully obtaining, retaining and disseminating classified official secret documents.
The Police has now named the investigative journalist David Hundeyin as a suspect in the same case alongside Michael Temidayo Alade, who is also listed as a police witness set to testify against Bristol in the same case, according to a report by Sahara Reporters.
Hundeyin’s award-winning investigative work has exposed corruption and human rights abuses by the Nigerian state. His list of awards and recognition includes the 2020 People Journalism Prize for Africa, 2021 and 2022 GRC Anti-FinCrime Reporter of the Year, Most Outstanding Young Person in Journalism at the 2022 Lagos Youth Awards, 2023 Distinguished James Currey Fellowship at the University of Cambridge, Special Investigative Reporting Award at the 2023 PwC Media Excellence Awards, finalist at the 2023 AIJC African Investigative Journalist of the Year Award and 2024 Journalism Residency at the Centro Cultural Africano México.
Currently in exile to avoid persecution by the authoritarian Nigerian government, Hundeyin has written 2 books, The Jungle (Abibiman, 2023) and Breaking Point (Abibiman, 2024) detailing his protracted confrontation with Nigerian state actors.
Previous attempts by the government to abduct or extradite him have failed.
Taking to X to claim he has been declared wanted by the Nigerian police, Hundeyin said his only crime was “Journalism.”
See his posts on X below;
