A protest has erupted in Ibadan, Oyo State over the arrest of Agidigbo FM owner Oriyomi Hamzat.
The police arrested Hamzat on Thursday, May 26 following his call for justice for the late Timothy Adegoke, a postgraduate student of Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU).
Mr Adegoke died in Hilton Hotel in Ile-Ife, Osun State last year. The owner of the hotel Ramon Adedoyin and some of his employees are facing trial over Adegoke’s death.
The broadcaster’s arrest followed complaint by Adedoyin’s lawyer, Ahmed Aderoju, accusing Hamzat and others, including one Babagbade Imo, Woibile and IJKFMB Music Yard, of criminal defamation, false alarm, incitement, false publication, cyberstalking and criminal threat.
Protesters took to the streets of Ibadan to express their disapproval of the arrest, lamenting that Hamzat provides for them.
Hamzat is alleged to have been handed to the Force Intelligence Bureau (FIB) and moved to Abuja.
Agidigbo FM spoke on his arrest in a statement, saying Hamzat had in the past few days been subjected to regular invites and questioning by several security operatives, including but not limited to the State Intelligence Bureau (SIB); all of which he honoured.
The statement said, “It would be realised that Mr. Oriyomi Hamzat’s constant call for justice for the deceased has been a source of concern for the accused.
“However, the entire situation began to escalate when the SIB started plans to hand over Mr. Hamzat to the Force Intelligence Bureau (FIB) and in the early hours of today, Thursday, 26′ of May 2022, he was arrested and as we speak has been whisked away to Abuja.”
