Bloggers Union condemns EFCC’s arrest of Blogger, calls for his immediate release

The Guild of Professional Bloggers of Nigeria (GPBN), the umbrella group of bloggers in Nigeria has condemned the arrest of an Abuja based blogger, Abubakar Sidiq Usman, publisher of ‎www.abusidiqu.com by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

NEWSVERGE report that Usman, was picked up at his Kubwa, Abuja home in the early hours of Monday by some operatives of the EFCC for questioning over an alleged offence which contravenes sections of the Cyber Crime Act.

In a statement signed by its Ag President, Chris Kehinde Nwandu, on behalf of the Association, the Union asked the anti-graft agency to immediately release the blogger.

The group queries the action of the anti-graft agency which is usurping the functions of the police.

According to the group, “The appropriate action to be taken by the EFCC if aggrieved is to report the matter to the police which will then carry out an investigation.

“The accused will be made to write down his statement and if found culpable charged to court to defend his action.

“While we will not condone, the action of any member, the Union said the manner with which the agency arrested the blogger is condemnable. It does not follow global practices.

The Guild of Professional Bloggers of Nigeria, however, called on the EFCC to focus its attention on its core mandate which is financial and other economic related offences.

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According to the Union, the association has set up an ethics committee within its ranks to handle issues like this. It requests any aggrieved person or organization to take full advantage of the ethics committee of the Union to address critical issues of this nature.

Meanwhile, Abubakar Sidiq Usman’s arrest has been widely condemned in the  social media  with #FreeAbusidiq hash tag being used to demand for his trending on twitter release.