Nigeria Urged to Free Writer Returning Home From L.A.

An international writers group based in Los Angeles is calling on the Nigerian government to release a writer arrested on his return to his homeland months after having participated in a fellowship program in Los Angeles.

The writer, Akinwumi Adesokan, was arrested Nov. 12 after trying to cross into Nigeria by way of the Benin border, according to officials of PEN Center USA West.

Adesokan was in Los Angeles from January to July through the Freedom to Write program, a fellowship for foreign writers facing political pressure.

Adesokan’s arrest is one of many in Nigeria to occur in the last two weeks, according to Amnesty International Deputy Director Joe Baker.

At least six other writers and journalists have been arrested and detained in Nigeria without apparent cause, Baker said.

Amnesty International plans to register an urgent action protest against the Nigerian government.

Baker said: “Some of the writers have been held without cause since July of this year. No trial. No reason for detention given. The government is holding these people without even the ruse of making up charges. This is clearly an attempt to intimidate the media.”

The rounding up of writers and journalists occurs at a time of increased international scrutiny from the British Commonwealth and Europe as well as an outcry by Nigerian newspapers over the government’s decision to charge Nobel laureate Wole Soyinka and other activists with treason earlier this year, according to Baker.