The whereabouts of a journalist with Secrets Reporters, Stanley Ugagbe, remain unknown after he was allegedly taken away by security operatives in Abuja, prompting accusations against the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) and calls for his immediate release.
The alarm was raised by the publisher of Secrets Reporters, Fejiro Oliver, who claimed the journalist was abducted on Wednesday shortly after returning from a training programme sponsored by the media organisation.
Oliver alleged that the operation was connected to an investigative report published by the platform on the Deputy Governor for Operations at the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Emem Nnanna Etuk Usoro.
According to him, Ugagbe was later taken to his residence, where security operatives allegedly confiscated his official mobile phone and laptop.
“The Nigerian security acting on the orders of Ms Emem Nnanna Etuk Usoro, who is the CBN Deputy Governor in charge of operations, has abducted a reporter with Secrets Reporters, Stanley Ugagbe,” Oliver alleged.
He described the incident as an attack on press freedom and expressed concern over what he termed the unlawful detention of a journalist.
“He was abducted yesterday while coming from a training the company sent him to. Stanley is also the operations manager of the Network Against Corruption and Trafficking,” Oliver said.
The publisher further claimed that the operatives who allegedly carried out the operation arrived in an unmarked tinted Mitsubishi Pajero and were armed with Israeli-made Tavor rifles.
Seeking clarification, Oliver said he contacted the Director-General of the Department of State Services (DSS), Tosin Ajayi, who reportedly initiated internal checks.
According to Oliver, the DSS informed him that the agency was not responsible for Ugagbe’s arrest.
He added that a senior DSS official in the Federal Capital Territory also denied that the journalist was in the agency’s custody.
Oliver said efforts to locate Ugagbe at several police facilities in Abuja, including the former SARS facility, the FCT Police Command and parts of the Force Headquarters, yielded no results.
“We have searched the police facilities in former SARS, FCT command and parts of police HQs and can’t find him there,” he said.
Calling for transparency, Oliver urged the police to either release the journalist or formally charge him before a competent court.
“The Police should immediately release Stanley or charge him to court,” he stated.
He also warned against the alleged use of cybercrime allegations or civil complaints as tools to intimidate journalists carrying out investigative reporting.
The controversy follows an investigative report published by Secrets Reporters on January 29, 2026, which contained allegations concerning Usoro’s personal life and assets.
The publication cited court documents from a matrimonial case before the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, alleging that the CBN deputy governor was named as a co-respondent. It also claimed that investigations linked her to two properties in the United States valued at more than ₦4 billion.
However, the allegations contained in that report have not been independently verified, while neither the Nigeria Police Force nor the Central Bank of Nigeria had publicly responded to the publisher’s claims as of the time of filing this report.
