Basking in the air of freedom, Bayelsa Journalist, Mr Jones Abiri, standing trial for alleged involvement in militant activities in the Niger Delta, returned to the warm embrace of his wife, children and professional colleagues on Tuesday in Yenagoa .

He was granted bail on Monday following heated campaign for his unconditional release, spearheaded by Amnesty International (AI), Committee to Protect Journalist (CPJ), the Nigerian Union of Journalists and other civil society organisations.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Abiri, who was received at the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ) Press Centre, expressed his optimism of getting justice.

Abiri was arrested by the Department of State Services (DSS) since July 2016 and detained for over two years without trial. He was, however, arraigned before a Magistrates’ Court this month and subsequently, granted bail.

Speaking at a reception to welcome him to Yenagoa, two years after his ordeal, Abiri said that contrary to the views held by the DSS, he was ready to face trial and prove his innocence.

Abiri, a law student before his incarceration, applauded the civil rights community, media and public-spirited individuals, who fought for his release from DSS custody.

He expressed his gratitude to the Bayelsa State Council of the NUJ for the warm reception accorded him and the support given by the union during his incarceration.

In a goodwill message, a Niger Delta Rights Activist, Ms Annkio Briggs, noted that it took the intervention of Amnesty International to draw public attention to the abuse of Abiri’s human rights.

“I only became aware of the ungodly and evil breach of Abiri’s fundamental and professional rights after Amnesty International raised the matter.

“I am proud of you and I am so happy that you are back home to your family, people and region. From here on, you will never walk alone,” Briggs said.

Mr John Angese, Chairman of the Bayelsa State Council of the NUJ, noted that Abiri was a member of the NUJ and discredited earlier reports that Abiri was not on the NUJ register.

“Let me state that Jones Abiri is one of us here in Bayelsa. We cannot deny him because of the allegations levelled against him.

“Our position has always been that he should be presented in court.  Now that the matter is in court, the Judiciary should be allowed to determine if he is guilty or not.

“We appeal to our colleagues to be cautious in reportage of this reception and avoid comments that will jeopardise the trial,” Angese said.

In her vote of thanks, Abiri’s sister, Mrs Philomena Kenere, said her family was delighted to have Abiri re-united with them.

She expressed appreciation to everyone, who supported the family during Abiri’s absence.

Abiri, publisher of the Weekly Source newspaper in Bayelsa State was in 2016 forcefully arrested and thrown into detention by the DSS and held incommunicado until he was rushed to court recently.

Nine armed agents of the DSS arrested Jones Abiri at his office in Yenagoa, in Nigeria’s oil-rich southern state of Bayelsa, on July 21, 2016. The operatives searched Abiri’s office and confiscated documents…

The security service later emailed a statement to journalists on July 23, 2016 accusing Abiri of being the leader of the separatist group, Joint Revolutionary Council of the Joint Niger Delta Liberation Force. In the statement, the security service also said that the publisher had confessed to bombing oil pipelines, planning attacks in the capital Abuja, sending threatening messages to international oil companies, and being the mastermind of a hoax military coup against President Muhammadu Buhari.

Although the Nigerian government initially denied holding any journalist, heightening international campaign for Abiri’s release and the N200 million suit instituted against the DSS by the chambers of human rights Lawyer, Femi Falana on the matter, compelled the DSS to take him to court on August 2^nd. But the DSS which says it was arraigning frail looking Abiri for his militant activities in the Niger Delta, also bungled the commencement of the trial by not producing any witnesses.

The case had to be adjourned till Thursday, August 16 with Abiri being ordered to be remanded in Keffi prison. He was however granted bail on stringent conditions including the requirement to have two sureties who must be very high officers in the civil service.

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), a non-profit organisation that champions press freedom internationally had in June also called for Abiri’s release. In a letter addressed to Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mr Lai Mohammed and signed by Joel Simon, CPJ’s executive director, it demanded that the DSS “be held accountable for its attacks against journalists in Nigeria”.

But the Information Minister said no Nigerian journalist was being detained. “Let me state here, without equivocating, that contrary to the report by the Committee To Protect Journalists (CPJ), no journalist is in detention in Nigeria. Clement Abiri, who is being referred to as a journalist, is not one. He does not belong to any chapel of the Nigerian Union of Journalists. He was arrested for pipeline vandalism and crude theft, including militant activities in the Niger Delta,” he said.