In a passionate appeal for protection, David Hundeyin, a Nigerian investigative journalist, has implored Nana Akufo-Addo, the Ghanaian President, and members of the Ghana security services to resist Nigerian security agencies’ covert pressure to revoke his refugee status and repatriate him to Nigeria.
Hundeyin’s appeal comes in the wake of his investigative articles scrutinising Nigerian President Bola Tinubu’s alleged drug-related history and questionable academic qualifications, particularly his Chicago State University degree. Hundeyin alleges that ever since these exposés, he has faced relentless harassment.
Speaking via his official social media account, Hundeyin stated his case on Wednesday, September 20, 2023, through a 16-minute video message.
In the video, he accused President Tinubu of plotting a personal vendetta against him, specifically for leaking confidential information about his personal life and, most recently, the Nigerian army’s plans to attack the Niger Republic.
“So I want to urge the Ghanaian president to resist the temptation to allow an illegitimate Nigerian president to push Ghana into breaking international law,” Hundeyin pleaded in the video.
“I obviously need to mention that there is a law called the Law of Refoulement which forbids the illegal repatriation of political refugees back to the country they fled from, where they are going to face persecution.”
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He admitted that most of his globally acclaimed accomplishments in the area of investigative journalism were made possible because of the protective support he has received from the Ghanaian government. A benefit other journalists fleeing political persecution enjoy in the West African country.
Hundeyin accused the Nigerian government of attempting to coerce Ghana into revoking his permanent residency, prompting him to publicise his situation. He asserted that if anything were to happen to him, he wanted the international community to hold the Nigerian president responsible.
“Ghana has a very, a long and storied relationship with Nigeria in so many ways, specifically when it comes to serving as a safe haven for people fleeing political persecution in Nigeria,” he said.
“Without the support and hospitality of Ghana and the Ghanaian government, a lot of the work I’ve been able to accomplish over the past few years could never have been done.”
He also held that he wasn’t going to survive it if the Ghanaian authority succumbed to the pressure from the Nigerian government to repatriate him to Nigeria.
“It’s very well known that if, for whatever reason, I were to be returned to Nigeria, I would not survive it. This is not a secret,” David Hundeyin said in the video.
He admitted that he had been forced to put out this public notice in case he turned out dead, saying that if in the event the Ghanaian government and the international community are unsuccessful in holding off the Nigerian government pressure for his repatriation and he ends up dead, “I want everyone to know who is responsible.”
He, however, noted that he has faith in the government of Ghana to do the right thing.
“I have faith in them. They’ve always done the right thing, more often than not. There are so many more people like myself who have found a safe refuge and a home in Ghana. I think it will be a very sad thing if that reputation that this country has built for itself should be damaged because of an illegitimate president in Nigeria who is essentially trying to personalise the apparatus of the state and use it to pursue his personal vendetta around the world,” he said.
Earlier in his public notice, he pointed to information about an attempt made by President Tinubu to attack Niger Republic after the military coup that sacked President Mohamed Bazoum.
He explained that he received a document detailing how the Nigerian military was going to attack the country.
According to Hundeyin, it was a needless attack that was going to take the lives of many Nigerians and other West Africans.
However, he said his leak of the information angered the Nigerian government, especially the military, and after the failed attempt by President Tinubu to get Senate approval to march on the neighbouring country, they became more obsessed with bringing him back to the country.
Read also:Legal showdown looms as Atiku resumes battle over Tinubu’s academic records
Before the Niger-related leak, Hundeyin had disclosed that President Tinubu did not graduate from Chicago State University and that the degree certificate he submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) was questionable as it may belong to a woman.
Hundeyin had also presented documents and a documentary purporting to reveal the Nigerian president’s past involvement in narcotics trafficking.
On Monday, many Nigerians and the international community will be watching the court case in the U.S. as the drama to find out the true academic situation of President Tinubu unfolds.
