He was nabbed by the Police Special Anti-Robbery Squad on Tuesday.
The arrest followed Ogundipe’s refusal to disclose the source of a story published in the online newspaper.
The story contained a report by Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Ibrahim Idris to Acting President Yemi Osinbajo, on the siege to the National Assembly by the State Security Service.
The protesters, a coalition of civil society groups, #OurMumuDondo, occupied the entrance of the building for about two hours to make their demands.
They were led by popular musician Charlie Boy, convener of Concerned Nigerians Deji Adeyanju and publisher of Sahara Reporters and presidential aspirant Omoyele Sowore.
The demonstrators chanted songs, such as;
“All we are saying is free Samuel now”, “Freedom comes by struggle”, “Solidarity forever, we shall always fight for our rights”.
They carried placards with the inscriptions: “Buhari must drop all charges against Samuel Ogundipe”, “Samuel Ogundipe is a journalist and not a criminal”, “Don’t take our voice away”.
The protesters blocked the road to the police headquarters and prevented movement, despite being dispersed with tear gas by the police.
Adeyanju said: “This is a deliberate attempt to intimidate Ogundipe and other journalists. It is bad for the image of the country and the police. We will not negotiate the freedom of the press with anybody, no matter who the person is. The police must release Ogundipe unconditionally with an apology.
“It is important to note that if this can happen to Ogundipe, it can happen to anybody. A situation where people use public office to intimidate and harass journalists, because the goal is to intimidate Samuel and dampen his spirit, is condemnable. We will not allow our country to be dragged down like this.
“As stakeholders in the Nigeria project, we are doing our best to ensure that no Nigerian lives in fear in a democracy.”
Sowore condemned the IG for pressurising Ogundipe to disclose his source.
He said: “The police must learn to respect human rights. We are going to protest till our space is respected. The police are supposed to be working for the people and not against them. The role of the press is defined, even in the constitution. We will not compromise on that.”
One of the demonstrators, Ralph Adebayo, described the IG as “ignorant,” noting that “he has been transmitting confusion and controversy since he became the police chief.”
The spokesman asked the protesters to summarise their demands and forward them to his office.
The demonstrators left the Force headquarters around noon and promised to resume their protest today.
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