By Bankole Abe, The ICIR
SEVERAL journalists based in Kaduna have shared accounts of alleged harassment, detention, and physical assault by security agencies – particularly the police – raising fresh concerns about press freedom and journalist safety in Nigeria.
Their experiences, spanning years and multiple incidents, underscore the ongoing tensions between the media and law enforcement in the region.
My Encounter With Police Brutality – Idibia
A Kaduna-based journalist, Gabriel Idibia Achadu, who is a correspondent for Daily Times and Daybreak newspapers, said he was covering a story on the movement of cattle by the police in Kaduna when he was arrested, beaten, and forced to write a statement under duress.
“I was just doing my job as a journalist, covering the cattle movement on Kachia Road. I approached a policeman to ask questions, and he ignored me. When I took a shot of the cattle, another policeman seized my phone and arrested me.”
“I was taken to the Gabasawa police station, where I was detained and assaulted by one of the officers,” Idibia recounted.
“Immediately I entered the office, one of them looked at me and said, ‘This is the guy who was approaching me on the road and wanted to know why they were driving the car with the cattle’. He now pulled me gave me a very dirty blow on the side of my head.
“When I sought to know what I had done to deserve such a treatment he said, if I talk again, they will shoot me. So, I kept quiet. In fact, the blow was so heavy that I had to sit down,” Idibia stated.
“Despite the fact that I couldn’t see well with one eye, they forced me to write a statement,” said Idibia, claiming that the police altered his statement and made him sign it.
“They told me to write that I was trying to block them from carrying out their duties, but I refused. They forced me to write it under duress.”
After several hours in detention, Idibia said he was granted bail on self-recognition. “When I was released, I went to the Public Relations Officer’s office to report the incident, but the officer was in a hurry,” he said.
Idibia said the police deleted the videos and photos from his phone, but he had taken backup shots that were preserved. “I sent the report to my organization, and they published it,” he said.
Idibia’s ordeal didn’t end there, he said he made attempts to follow up on the matter, “The police PPRO called me and said he wanted to see me with the Commissioner of Police (CP), but I told him that I wanted the officer who assaulted me to be present. He said they hadn’t arrested the officer, so I refused to meet with them.”
Idibia noted that he considered taking the matter to court but was discouraged by his lawyer’s concerns about identifying the officer involved. The matter died down after that.
Sent To Prison For Exposing The Pilgrims Board
That wasn’t Idibia’s first encounter with police harassment. The journalist said he had faced similar challenges in his pursuit of exposing corruption and wrongdoing. He was arrested and detained by the police in 2023 when he reported on the situation at the Hajj camp in Kaduna.
“Around 25 September 2023, I wrote a report concerning Kaduna Pilgrims Board. The story was about the corruption in that place and the poor organization of Hajj 2023.
“The report, published in Daybreak, sparked a swift reaction from the Board’s Executive Director, who forwarded the story to him via WhatsApp,” he explained.
Idibia said he was invited to clarify his report at Yaki Police Station, where he was accused of religious instigation and defamation. “They said the report has religious instigation and I should be invited. Despite being received well initially, I was eventually detained for allegedly damaging the Pilgrims Board’s reputation.”
He said he was charged with defamation, religious violence inclinations, and attempting to incite people against the state and was not able to meet the bail conditions. “I was remanded in prison because I couldn’t assemble the two sureties and the evidence of the two million Naira,” Idibia stated.
Idibia said the case was eventually abandoned. This was corroborated by his employer.
Idibia’s Employers React
Responding to the plight of Idibia, Austin Maho the publisher of Daybreak Nigeria said Idibia was a victim of harassment and brutalization by a high-ranking government official of the Kaduna State Government. He added that the event and circumstances are well documented.
According to Maho, he observed the dangerous dimension the incident was taking, because the government official in question was trying to give a religious colouration to a “pure case of corruption and lack of accountability”
“I immediately reported the case to the DSS headquarters in Abuja, because Idibia was declared a persona non grata in Kaduna.
“Furthermore, I engaged the leadership of the NUJ in Kaduna who I was made to understand was polarised along religious lines over the issue. As a result of the seriousness of the issues I had to temporarily relocate him to Abuja to allow tempers to cool and told the company lawyer to debrief him. He was only able to return to Kaduna after about three weeks,” Maho stated
Maho added that while the case was in court before it was eventually abandoned by the complainant, all necessary support was provided to the journalist. “I had to personally visit the force headquarters in Abuja to foil an occasion when he was illegally detained by the police,” he said.
Jacob Onjewu Dickson’s Ordeal
In a similar incident, Jacob Onjewu Dickson, Editor of New Nigeria Newspaper, was arrested and detained by the police in April 2016 following a report he published about the then-Governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-Rufai, being pelted with stones during a peace visit.
Dickson recalled, “In April 2016, the former governor of Kaduna State, Malam Nasir El-Rufai, visited a community to broker peace between two warring factions. When he went there, he was pelted. All the government house journalists refused to carry the story. It was after I carried it on my personal online Authentic News Daily before others started picking it and it went viral.”
“The governor was not happy, and he ordered the Commissioner of Police to invite me. I was invited, and I went,” Dickson said.
Following his visit to the police station, he was taken to Gabasawa Police Station, where he spent the night, and was later transferred to the state prison. There, he was detained for seven days before being granted bail.
Dickson believes the outcome might have been different if he had gone there alone, “Fortunately for me, when I was going that morning, I called a colleague, Bashiru Dollars, who was there at the CP’s office.
“I don’t know what would have happened if he was not there, I think the plan was to make me disappear because first of all, they didn’t want Bashiru to enter.
Speaking on his experience at the police station where he was first detained, Dickson said, “I was held in a cell with no space to sit, had to stand throughout the night,” Dickson recounted, adding, “The next morning, my colleague intervened, and I was eventually released on bail.”
According to Dickson, his arrest and detention were widely condemned by the international community, with pressure from the presidency and the then Minister of Information, Lai Mohammed, leading to his eventual release.
Prior to his release, he said he was brought before a judge in his chambers where he was presented with charges which included defamation. He entered a not-guilty plea. Following this, he was detained at the Maximum Prison on Independence Way, where he spent seven days, which he believed could have lasted longer, but for pressure from the international media advocates, Aso Rock, and then-President Buhari.
According to Dickson, the publication was not on New Nigerian, but Authentic News Daily owned by him. However, the New Nigerian Union and management, helped with advocacy and working toward his release. He said the then chairman of New Nigerian NUJ Chapel, Abdulazeez Ahmed Kadir was actively ensuring that there was media coverage of his plight.
Arrested, Detained For Covering Shiite Protests In Kaduna
A few years later, in a separate incident, Dickson and another journalist Bossan Yakusaj of Galaxy Television were arrested and detained by police while covering a protest by the Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN), otherwise called Shiite, in Kaduna. He said the police demanded that they delete photos taken during the protest.
“They said we were members of Shiite because I was wearing black and was at the scene of the protest,” Dickson said.
Dickson said a contingent from the NUJ came, led by Adamu Yusuf, who was the chairman, with several executive members and members of the union.
“They came in large numbers only for the DPO to say, we were lucky that he would have shot at our legs. They said the only condition they would free us was if I deleted all the photos I had taken, which I did.”
I Was Also A Victim Of Harassment – NUJ Chapter Chairman
The curent chairman of the Kaduna State chapter of the NUJ, Alabewe, said he has also been a victim of harassment. Narrating his personal experience with harassment in the line of duty, he said, “I was invited by the DSS over a report I did and held for hours but not charged.”
Despite the harassment, Alabelewe said he is committed to protecting journalists from harassment and ensuring their safety while performing their duties.
“We try to maintain a cordial relationship with the agencies and let them understand that journalists are not their enemies. We are also performing our duties, and as much as we pray that such incidents will not happen, if they do, we’ll definitely take it up with any agency that is involved,” Alabelewe said.
“Things are getting better. Our colleagues are also being enlightened to a large extent that such incidents are now reduced compared to the past,” he added.
Despite the challenges, Alabelewe remains optimistic about the future of journalism in Kaduna and said he will continue to take up incidents of harassment and ensure that journalists are protected.
“We are working to educate our members on safety measures and promote a better understanding between journalists and security agencies.
“We are not at war with the security agencies or the government. We’re just doing our job, and we expect to be treated with respect and dignity,” Alabelewe noted.
Kaduna Police PRO Responds To Allegations
In response to allegations of police brutality against journalists in Kaduna, Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) Mansur Hassan said Idibia was released after identifying himself as a journalist and visiting the PRO’s office.
“I can swear that he was released,” Hassan said, “He is my very good friend, but because of that, he has turned himself into something different.”
Hassan disputed Idibia’s claim of being beaten and having his eyes swollen. “No, he was in my office,” he stated.
The PRO emphasized his commitment to supporting journalists, saying, “If anything happens to any journalist, I use to stand for them. He is my very good friend… Ask them, ask the NUJ, ask the past chairman and the present one. When some journalists were kidnapped, I was at the forefront to ensure they were released.”
The spokesman stressed the need for further investigation and dialogue to resolve such disputes and promote a more collaborative relationship between law enforcement agencies and the media.
The incidents of harassment and brutality against journalists in Kaduna by security agencies have raised concerns about the safety of media practitioners in the state and calls for urgent collective action to guarantee press freedom in the state and Nigeria as a whole.
The incidents highlight the need for greater protection and safety measures for journalists and the importance of holding those in power accountable for their actions.
Media Owners React To Harassment Of Journalists
Maho, the publisher of Daybreak Nigeria, said it is the responsibility of media owners to give their staff protection. He said media houses are expected to take practical and strategic steps in protecting their staff, especially journalists on their payroll considering the challenges and hazards journalists confront daily.
“This is especially in the areas of harassment and intimidation from high-ranking government officials and politicians, brutalization by security agents, arrest, detention, and censorship,” he said.
Maho said that based on his experience as a publisher, there are necessary steps that must be taken to protect journalists which include advocacy and legal protection.
According to him, as long as journalists are operating within the ambits of the law and holding the government accountable to the people in line with their mandate as enshrined in section 22 of the 1999 constitution, they deserve protection and not intimidation from security agencies.
“Democracy rests on the ability of the media to perform its duty without hindrance or else we drift into authoritarian barbarism,” he added.
Another media owner, Adamu Marshal, Publisher of Kaduna-based Kabido Newspaper said as a publisher, the protection of every journalist and every other person is bound by law.
He stressed that any harassment or arrest of a journalist by any security or government organization is against the freedom of information.
“I have had experiences when some of our members were arrested, I have been a national leader of the NUJ, so I’ve been involved in the struggle against the arrest of journalists over a very long time.
“In fact, during our time, we had it rough with the military. In fact, it is even better now… during the military, we fought it seriously and we never relented, and we’re not going to relent until every journalist is given the freedom to practice his profession unhindered,” Marshal stated.
This report was produced by ICIR in collaboration with the Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development (CJID) as part of a project documenting issues focused on press freedom in Nigeria.
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