Officers attached to the Nigeria Police Force Kwara Command have arrested Pelumi Salako, a freelance journalist working with Al Jazeera news channel, for having his laptop with him.

FIJ learnt that policemen picked him up on Wednesday afternoon at about 2 pm around the Oke-Odo area in Ilorin, the state capital.

The reason for his arrest, FIJ learnt, was the possession of a laptop for which he could not immediately produce a receipt for.

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When FIJ called Salako, he said, “I am at the police headquarters in Ilorin. I was stopped and searched, then they asked for my laptop receipt but I told them it was not on me. I have it, but it is at home. They said not having it on me makes me a suspect, but they did not tell me the crime.”

While speaking, a policeman barked in the background, “Who are you talking to? My friend, cut that call.”

The call abruptly ended a few moments later.

When FIJ called Ajayi Okasanmi, Kwara Police Public Relations Officer, he expressed surprise at the reason for the arrest and asked that we send him Salako’s number so he could probe the matter.

Ojukwu is a reporter with FIJ in partnership with Report for the World, which matches local newsrooms with talented emerging journalists to report on under-covered issues around the globe.