{"id":76094,"date":"2025-10-06T00:38:36","date_gmt":"2025-10-06T00:38:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/?p=76094"},"modified":"2025-10-06T00:38:36","modified_gmt":"2025-10-06T00:38:36","slug":"nuj-commends-dss-for-releasing-detained-jay-fm-journalists","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/2025\/10\/06\/nuj-commends-dss-for-releasing-detained-jay-fm-journalists\/","title":{"rendered":"NUJ Commends DSS for Releasing Detained Jay FM Journalists"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>By Adenike Lawal<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) has commended the Department of State Services (DSS) for ordering the release of two detained journalists, Ruth Marcus and Keshia Jang, of Jay 101.9 FM, Jos, Plateau State.<\/p>\n<p>The journalists were arrested while covering the burial of the late mother of Professor Nentawe Yilwatda Goshwe, National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC). Their detention reportedly followed the circulation of a viral video showing an altercation between a cleric and security operatives during the ceremony.<\/p>\n<p>The arrest had sparked public outrage and condemnation from journalists and media rights advocates, who described it as a breach of press freedom and an attack on the right to report public events without fear or intimidation.<\/p>\n<p>Their release came after the intervention of the DSS Director-General, Mr. Oluwatosin Ajayi, who not only ordered their immediate freedom but also tendered an apology to the NUJ leadership.<\/p>\n<p>In a statement on Sunday, NUJ National President, Alhassan Yahya Abdullahi, praised the DSS boss for his swift response and for demonstrating accountability and professionalism.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMr. Ajayi\u2019s willingness to admit errors, apologise, and direct proper investigations before making arrests signals a commendable shift in the agency\u2019s operational culture,\u201d Abdullahi stated. \u201cThis openness is an important step toward rebuilding public confidence in the DSS.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He urged the DSS to sustain this new approach by ensuring that journalists and other citizens are treated with respect in the course of official duties. Abdullahi emphasised that a free and independent press remains essential to Nigeria\u2019s democracy and that journalists must not be harassed for performing their lawful responsibilities.<\/p>\n<p>While welcoming the agency\u2019s gesture, the NUJ president called for stronger institutional accountability across all security formations, insisting that officers who violate civil rights or democratic principles should face appropriate sanctions.<\/p>\n<p>He reaffirmed the union\u2019s commitment to continued collaboration with security agencies to promote mutual understanding, professionalism, and a healthy balance between press freedom and national security.<\/p>\n<p>The NUJ also encouraged journalists nationwide to remain courageous, ethical, and vigilant in the pursuit of truth and public interest.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Adenike Lawal The Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) has commended the Department of State Services (DSS) for ordering the release of two detained journalists, Ruth Marcus and Keshia Jang, of Jay 101.9 FM, Jos, Plateau State. The journalists were arrested while covering the burial of the late mother of Professor Nentawe Yilwatda Goshwe, National [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":32,"featured_media":76095,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[172],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-76094","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"aioseo_notices":[],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76094","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/32"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=76094"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76094\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":76096,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76094\/revisions\/76096"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/76095"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=76094"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=76094"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=76094"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}