Nigerian journalist arrested by armed men: witnesses

Armed men thought to be state agents arrested a Nigerian journalist, previously detained for more than two years, at a meeting with colleagues on Sunday, witnesses and watchdog groups told AFP.

"Two DSS (State Security Service) vehicles... stormed the office" of the Bayelsa Federated Newspaper Publishers' Association in Yenagoa in Nigeria's southern Bayelsa state around lunchtime, as Jones Abiri was in a meeting with six colleagues, the association's secretary general Eric Eweke told AFP.

They "threatened that if tries to run, they would shoot at him," said Eweke.

Another witness, who agreed to speak on condition of anonymity, said: "The men jumped out of the vehicles in a gestapo fashion while he (Abiri) was chatting with his friends and shouted at him that he was under arrest.

"While he was demanding to know his offence, he was forcefully pushed into a waiting vehicle at gunpoint."
"We call on federal and state authorities in Nigeria to disclose where Abiri is being detained and the reasons for his arrest, and urge that they ensure that his rights are not violated yet again and that due process is respected."