Investigative journalist David Hundeyin has addressed the Nigeria Police Force’s recent declaration that identified him as an accomplice in the ongoing trial of whistleblower Isaac Tamunobifiri, known as PIDOM.
Hundeyin clarified the circumstances leading to the police’s accusation, shedding light on his involvement and defending his role in exposing corruption and wrongdoing in the country.
Hundeyin, who spoke in an interview with News Central Television on Wednesday, said it was not unconnected to truth-telling in an administration that sees that as an affront, frantic attempts to involve him in the criminal investigation to discredit his international refugee status, and put him on an Interpol notice list, among others.
The journalist also claimed that in 2023, the National Intelligence Agency made several attempts to abduct him from overseas for exposing the ills of some top governmental functionaries, adding that the attempts were in Ghana and Kenya before he moved to the United Kingdom for safety.
“There were several attempts by the National Intelligence Agency to abduct me. They also tried to render me stateless. I even tried to change my country twice. There was an attempt to abduct me from Ghana, then I had to move to Kenya; and when they came for me in Kenya, I ran to the United Kingdom.
“This is part of the price that you have to pay when you decide to say the truth at the time it wasn’t fashionable to do so, especially a regime that sees truth-telling as an affront or threat to it,” he stressed.
READ ALSO: Police fingers David Hundeyin, one other as PIDOM’s accomplices
Speaking on whether he knew he was declared an accomplice in PIDOM’s trial, Hundeyin said he had always prepared for it, which is why he decided to go public, especially after examining the way the whistleblower X handle reached out to him and the scenarios that made the handler give him access to the account.
“The attempts by those people to hack my devices, which led to me replacing them, made it clear to me that some things were going on that I didn’t want to be a party to.
“At that time, I guessed that this was probably a state security attempt to rope me into some criminal investigation to discredit my international refugee status and go after political opponent journalists and whistleblowers like myself and PIDOM. It is a thing Nigeria, and other countries are likely to do.
“And just like I guess, truth to form, they named me a suspect in an ongoing criminal investigation for the purpose of creating a narrative basis possibly to put me on an Interpol notice list which makes it more difficult for me to travel essentially to make the world feel like they are closing in on me.
“And as you know getting hold of David Hundeyin is one of the most important security priorities of the Nigerian establishment. It doesn’t matter that you have terrorists flaunting ransom on TikTok,” he added.
On the status of PIDOM, Hundeyin alleged that the suspect was sprayed with a toxic substance in FCID detention and had been having extreme difficulty breathing since then, stressing, “He cannot breathe properly; you can hear it in his voice. Clearly, something is wrong with him.”
Recall that Hundeyin and one Michael Alade are Bristol Isaac, aka PIDOMNigeria’s accomplices.
PIDOMNigeria was accused of leaking classified and restricted documents, fraud, sedition, and tax evasion, among others.
Addressing journalists in Abuja on Tuesday, the Force Spokesperson, Muyiwa Adejobi, said PIDOM was arrested following a petition from the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation.
Adejobi added that when operatives of the National Cybercrime Centre stormed PIDOM’s hotel, he resisted arrest, locked himself up, destroyed his phone, and flushed it down the toilet.
Earlier, PIDOM was reminded in Kuje correctional facility, Abuja.
PIDOM was arraigned on Tuesday on nine counts brought against him by the Inspector General of Police, including alleged money laundering, cybercrime, and disseminating classified secret documents.
Credible News.ng
