Nigerian journos freed

2008-09-19 08:18

Lagos - Three of five Nigerian journalists arrested in connection with a hoax story alleging that the country's president was contemplating stepping down on health grounds, were freed on Thursday, one of them said.

"We were released this evening and have been asked to report back on Monday," Bashir Adigun told AFP, adding "but our station is still shut down".

Adigun, who is a regional editor with Channels television, said he was released along with the manager for the Abuja station and a deputy editor with the state-run News Agency of Nigerian (NAN).

Two other Channels senior journalists arrested in the Nigerian commercial capital Lagos were still being held, according to Adigun.

The five journalists were picked up on Tuesday by the country's intelligence agency, the State Security Services (SSS), after Channels aired the newsflash which said Yar'Adua could stand down "for medical reasons".

Security forces personnel forcibly took the station off air on Tuesday evening, a day before the country's regulatory National Broadcasting Commission suspended Channels's operating licence.

The closure sparked a storm of criticism as media watchdogs urged the authorities to probe the story's source instead of closing down media houses or arresting journalists.

The false story apparently originated from NAN.

The agency has denied being the source of the article while President Umaru Yar'Adua's aides have said he has no plans whatsoever to resign.

Yar'Adua has been dogged by health problems ever since the campaign ahead of the April 2007 election that brought him to power.

- SAPA