The management of Daily Independent has disclosed that the publication's Abuja Bureau Chief, Mr. Tony Ezimakor, who has been detained by the Directorate of State Security (DSS) since Wednesday, is hypertensive and has been denied access to his medication.
The disclosure was made in a statement issued on Thursday. Signed by Mr. Don Okere, editor of the paper, the statement said Mr. Ezimakor arrived to honor an invitation by the DSS at about 10.30pm on Wednesday and was shunted from one office to the other and asked to wait for a particular officer, who was said to out of office.
He was subsequently detained.
The management said it has made efforts through the newspaper's lawyer, Mr. Douglas Ekhator, to see the detained journalist, but has been luckless so far.
"One thing is certain: Mr. Ezimakor was not given his medication though the lawyer who took it to him late Wednesday.
"One thing is certain: Mr. Ezimakor was not given his medication though the lawyer who took it to him late Wednesday.
"We hereby alert the world to this real and present danger that Mr. Ezimakor is a high blood pressure patient and apart from taking his drugs, needs to see his doctors at very short notice," the statement said.
It warned that the DSS is endangering Mr. Ezimakor's life. According to the newspaper, the detained journalist's wife said her husband left home on Wednesday without medication and had no meal.
"She lamented that her husband’s health must be in grave danger, especially as DSS operatives have denied him access to his prescribed drugs," the statement added.
The management of the newspaper called for the immediate and unconditional release to prevent the deterioration of his health.
