MRA Condemns Police Summons to Activist over FOI Request as Misuse of Power

Media Rights Agenda (MRA) today condemned the summons issued by the Delta State Police Command to Comrade Victor Ojie, leader of the Young Nigerian Rights Organization (YNRO), to report to the State Intelligence Department (SID) in Asaba following a request for information made by the organization to the State Ministry of Lands and Survey under the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act, 2011 on petitions and records relating to land disputes in Aniocha South Local Government Area of the State.

In a statement issued in Lagos, MRA described the police action as a gross misuse of power and a blatant attempt to intimidate and harass a citizen for the lawful exercise of his right to request information from any public institution under the FOI Act.

The NYRO had filed an FOI request at the Delta State Ministry of Lands and Survey seeking records and petitions relating to land disputes in the Aniocha South Local Government Area of Delta State. Rather than the Ministry complying with the law by providing the requested information within the statutory seven days or refusing to disclose the information if it had any legitimate grounds to withhold it, it got the Delta State Police Command to issue a summons for Comrade Ojie to appear before the police.

In a “Letter of Invitation”, Ref. No.: CB:3422/SID/DTS/VOL 3/153, dated March 3, 2026,  Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Ojokoh Julius, Second-in-Command of the State Intelligence Department of the Police in Asaba, said with reference to Comrade Ojie letter captioned “FREEDOM OF INFORMATION REQUEST PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT, 2011, REQUEST FOR ACCESS TO PETITIONS AND RECORDS RELATING TO LAND DISPUTES IN ANIOCHA SOUTH LGA,” he had been directed by the Commissioner of Police, Delta State Police Command, to invite the activist to meet with the Assistant Commissioner of Police, SID, Asaba on the subject matter on Monday, March 9, 2026, at 10.00am.

He told Comrade Ojie in the letter that on arrival, he should contact ASP Njoku Belden to “facilitate the meeting” with the assistant commissioner of police.

In a statement signed by Mr. Ayode Longe, MRA’s Deputy Executive Director, the organization said: "It is an alarming trend that the Nigeria Police Force, which is tasked with enforcing the law, has become the instrument for violating the rights of citizens under the Law. The FOI Act is a national law that grants every person a legal right to access information in the custody of any public institution. For the Delta State Police to treat a civil request for information made under the Law to a public institution as a criminal matter over which it is issuing an invitation to the requester to report to the Police is a deeply troubling development. We consider it not only as an act of professional ignorance but a deliberate assault on the legal and constitutional rights of Nigerians."

According to Mr. Longe, Section 1(2) of the FOI Act explicitly states that an applicant for information does not need to demonstrate any specific interest in the information being requested, so there is no basis for Comrade Ojie to be interrogated on the organization’s request for information.

Besides, he noted, the FOI Act outlines clear circumstances under which a request for information may be denied and provides procedures for any public institution that wishes to deny a request to do so, adding that issuing police summons on the information requester is not among such channels permitted by the Act.

Mr. Longe said: "This incident is a classic example of a culture of impunity within the Police that we have consistently documented and decried.  By summoning Comrade Ojie, the Delta State Police Command is sending a chilling message to members of the public that asking questions about land disputes or any other matter could be treated as a 'crime' that would warrant interrogation. This is an attempt to protect potentially corrupt interests under the guise of police procedure."

He therefore called on the Delta State Commissioner of Police and the Inspector-General of Police to immediately withdraw the summons and ensure that neither Comrade Ojie nor any other official of the YNRO is subjected to any further harassment, adding that as an institution that has as its core business enforcing the Law and bringing others to justice for failure to obey the Law, the Police has a legal and moral duty to ensure compliance with the FOI request as mandated by law, particularly as the FOI Act makes wrongful denial of access to information an offence.

Mr. Longe also urged the Attorney-General of the Federation to intervene in the matter and call the Delta State Police Command to order in his capacity as the principal legal adviser to the Federal Government, the official with a statutory mandate to oversee the implementation of the FOI Act and ensure compliance by all public institutions as well as the official with a general responsibility to ensure that all government actions accord with the Law.

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