Investigative journalist Fejiro Oliver, publisher of Secret Reporters, has been granted bail by two different Magistrate Courts in Asaba, Delta State, on a pair of new defamation charges brought by the state.
These two fresh cases accuse Oliver of insulting Senator Joel-Onowakpo Thomas on social media by labeling him a “Blockhead Senator” and of publishing a critical post about NEXIM Executive Director Stella Okotete, describing her as a “rejected ministerial nominee.”
The Court Rulings:
Both Magistrates granted bail, though under rigorous conditions: Oliver must provide a surety with landed property and a close relative as a second surety, and he must deposit his international passport.
The Controversy:
While the defense argued the charges were unjustified and bailable, the prosecution claimed Oliver was a “security risk” and a blackmailer who abused the limits of free speech.
The key sticking point is that despite securing bail, Oliver remains detained because the Delta State Ministry of Lands has allegedly stalled the verification of his surety documents for weeks.
Human rights advocates, including Omes Ogedegbe and the Centre for Civic Liberty and Media Accountability (CCLMA), have denounced this administrative delay, calling it a “shameful abuse of state power” and “persecution, not prosecution”—a deliberate attempt to silence a critic.
With Oliver facing four active cases in two months (including a previous cyberstalking charge against the Governor and a Senator), the situation is seen as a significant test of the balance between political power and press freedom in Nigeria.
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