The Nigerian Chapter of the International Press Institute (IPI) says the Department of State Security (DSS) has delisted Lanre Arogundade, the executive director of the International Press Centre (IPC), from its watchlist.
President of IPI in Nigeria, Musikilu Mojeed announced the development on Tuesday at the 3rd Nigerian Media Leaders’ Summit convened by Journalism Clinic in Ogun state.
Mojeed said Arogundade’s name was removed after about 40 years due to a sustained and intensive campaign by the IPI Nigeria.
He noted that the development was communicated to IPI Nigeria by Director-General (DG) of the DSS, Adeola Ajayi at a recent engagement with the service.
Mojeed said IPI Nigeria commends the DSS for finally removing Arogundade’s name from the watchlist.
Arogundade’s name was added to the DSS watchlist during the Muhammadu Buhari-led military regime when he served as the president of the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) between 1984 and 1985.
In 2022, it was reported that DSS had delisted Arogundade’s name from its watchlist but was briefly detained at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos on February 10 that year.
There have been several calls for his name to be removed from the service’s watchlist before it was finally taken off.
