TheCable

Uthman Abubakar, north-east regional editor of Daily Trust Newspaper, has been released.

Mannir Dan-Ali, editor-in-chief of the newspaper, announced the release after receiving Abubakar who was brought into the Maiduguri office by an army officer.

On Sunday, soldiers invaded the head office of the newspaper in Abuja and its regional offices in Maiduguri, Borno state capital, and Lagos.

The soldiers barricaded the gate of the Maiduguri office after arresting two editorial staff.

The defence headquarters subsequently said the newspaper’s offices were shut down because of a story which revealed “the military’s plan on the fight against insurgency”.

The editor’s byline had appeared on the frontpage report.

Abubakar said he was courteously treated while in detention but his mobiles phones and laptops are yet to be handed over to him.

In 2014, soldiers attacked the newspapers’ vans in ‘search of bombs,’ and copies of the papers were confiscated.