A Kano-based journalist was detained for more than two hours by police on Monday night over a radio programme, prompting condemnation from a local press body which described the rising pattern of police harassment of reporters as “deeply worrying.”
Abdulaziz Aliyu, who presents a Hausa-language historical programme on Karama Radio, said he was summoned by an officer who identified himself as CSP Sabo.
The officer initially claimed Aliyu’s name appeared in a stolen phone investigation.
“On arrival, I was confronted with an entirely different matter: a complaint over my publication,” Aliyu told Reuters. “The police deceived me; it was about an article that allegedly offended some individuals.”
The programme in question discussed the late Malam Jafaru Ɗan Isiyaku, who ruled the Zazzau emirate from 1937 to 1959.
The Association of Kano Online Journalists (ASKOJ) condemned the incident, warning that the police were using deception and intimidation to silence reporters.
“Journalism is a constitutionally recognized profession, yet some individuals intoxicated by power view it as a threat and use state resources to harass, intimidate, arrest, and, in some cases, endanger the lives of journalists,” ASKOJ chairman Comrade Yakubu Salisu said in a statement.
While stressing that it does not condone unprofessional conduct, ASKOJ urged authorities and stakeholders to seek redress through lawful and civil channels.
Rights groups in Nigeria have repeatedly raised concerns over police intimidation of the press, warning that arbitrary detentions could undermine media freedom.
All efforts to contact Kano State Police spokesperson SP Abdullahi Haruna Kiyawa for comments on the matter were unsuccessful.