The National Cybercrime Centre (NCCC) of the Nigeria Police Force has summoned the publisher of SecretsReporters, Fejiro Oliver, to appear tomorrow over allegations of espionage, cyberstalking and computer-related offences.

A journalist with SecretsReporters, Stanley Ugagbe, has also been confirmed to be in the custody of NCCC operatives over allegations of cyberstalking.

Oliver, who confirmed Ugagbe’s detention, described the arrest as a threat to journalism and called for the repeal of the Cybercrimes Act.

Speaking to The Guardian from asylum in the United States, Oliver said members of his management team were at the NCCC headquarters on Monday and were working through legal counsel to secure the journalist’s bail.

He argued that the law was being used to frustrate journalists in the discharge of their professional duties, alleging that it was modelled after legislation in Singapore and that the Nigeria Police remained the only agency using it to harass and intimidate journalists.

Oliver said he was forced to leave Nigeria in 2025 and seek asylum in the United States over what he described as similar intimidation.

He urged authorities to pursue defamation cases instead of cybercrime charges where they believed media reports were defamatory.

The summons, dated July 5, 2026, directed Oliver to appear before the Deputy Commissioner of Police and Deputy Director of Operations, Olufemi Akinola, for an interview.

Meanwhile, the Abuja Council of the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ) has condemned Ugagbe’s disappearance and continued detention.

The union expressed concern over the circumstances surrounding the journalist’s arrest, noting that no official reason had been given for his detention or information provided on his whereabouts.