The Nigerian police on Tuesday said it arrested and arraigned Bristol Isaac Tamunobifiri, the man behind the popular whistleblower X account @pidomnigeria (PIDOM) because its whistle-blowing threatens national stability and could spark a revolt against President Bola Tinubu’s government.
“In an effort to protect national security, maintain public order, identify and apprehend those engaged in criminal activities threatening the stability of our nation, the operatives of the Nigeria Police Force National Cybercrime Center (NPF-NCCC) have apprehended an anonymous hacker in connection with alleged criminal conspiracy, offences against the Official Secrets Act, leakage of classified ‘restricted’ documents, acts likely to cause breach of public peace, sedition, fraud, and tax evasion,” Olumuyiwa Adejobi, police spokesperson said.
In a statement on Tuesday, Mr Adejobi said Mr Tamunobifiri’s arrest and trial were informed by a petition by Mr Tinubu’s government after he leaked some documents from the president’s office and the Secretary of the Government of the Federation.
“The complaint, filed by the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (OSGF), alleged that an anonymous blogger using the Twitter handle @pidomnigeria (PIDOM) published and distributed a restricted document on a sensitive matter of national security,” Mr Adejobi said.
Nigerian netizens have since expressed concern over the trend of attacks on critics of Mr Tinubu’s government.
Amnesty International condemned the prolonged detention of Mr Tamunobifiri, saying, “Whistleblower PIDOM is still unlawfully detained by the Nigerian authorities, without access to family or adequate legal assistance, and without being charged to court — further exposing him to the high risks of torture and other ill-treatment.”
With his X account, @PIDOMNigeria, Mr Tamunobifiri regularly publish confidential government documents in the public interest, to the consternation of federal officials.
Before he was arrested, Mr Tamunobifiri had last October, published a State House document that exposed how Mr Tinubu’s administration lavished hundreds of thousands of dollars on hotel reservations at the UN General Assembly in New York.
The document sparked a nationwide outrage that the government was squandering the nation’s limited resources on five-star hotels while citizens were asked to endure a torrid economy for a better future.
He also posted classified police signals to expose internal wrongdoing and wranglings in the security forces.
Nigerian police officers picked him up in Port Harcourt on August 5. He was arraigned on September 3 and remanded in Kuje prions as at the time of the writing of this story.
2 thoughts on “PIDOM planning chaos with the leak of government documents: Police By Tony Ademiluyi”