TheCable

The Department of State Services (DSS) has released Jones Abiri, the editor and publisher of the Weekly Source newspaper, who was arrested on Saturday.

Samuel Ogala, Abiri’s lawyer, said his client was released from the secret police’s detention facility in Abuja on Monday afternoon.

The journalist was arrested during the weekend in Yenagoa, Bayelsa state capital, where he publishes his Weekly Source magazine.

As of the time of filing this report, there has been no official statement from the DSS to clarify the arrest, which is coming months after the journalist was released from a lengthy detention.

Abiri was previously arrested in 2016 on allegations of sponsoring militant activities.

He was accused of being the leader of the joint revolutionary council of the separatist group, Joint Niger Delta Liberation Force.

The publisher was also accused of threatening oil companies and demanding money from them.

He was granted bail in August 2018 when an Abuja magistrate court struck out a suit against him after being held in detention for two years.