WARRI, Nigeria – Newspaper publishers are demanding that Nigeria's secret service release a colleague detained on accusations that he is an oil militant.
Department of State Security agents said they arrested The Source publisher Jones Abiri on July 21 for terrorism, attempted kidnapping and masterminding rumors of a military coup.
The Bayelsa State Federated Newspaper Publishers Association said Abiri is a "credible journalist" and appealed Wednesday for his release.
The secret service has accused Abiri of leading the Joint Revolutionary Council, a militant group in Nigeria's oil-rich south, where attacks have slashed oil production from 2.2 million to 1.2 million barrels a day.
The latest cover issue of The Source accuses unidentified Nigerians of a plot to "Islamize" the country and asks if President Muhammadu Buhari, a Muslim, is sympathetic.
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