At least 14 journalists detained, attacked, or harassed covering Nigeria’s election

Abuja, February 27, 2023 – At least 14 journalists and media workers have been detained, harassed, or assaulted while covering Nigerian news. presidential and federal elections, including private news website WikkiTimes owner Haruna Mohammed Salisu, who remains in police custody without charge, the Committee to Protect Journalists said on Friday.

Police detained Salisu on February 25 in the town of Duguri, in southeastern Bauchi state, shortly after he and another journalist met with the state governor, according to WikkiTimes editor Yakubu Mohammed, who spoke to CPJ, and local coalition press freedom group. The police said they arrested Salisu to protect him after supporters of the governor attacked him while he was interviewing local women who were protesting, but later refused to release him, according to Mohammed, who visited him after he was transferred to the police headquarters in Bauchi, state. capital. Local PRNigeria news site reported the police had “received a formal complaint that the reporter was harassing voters.” Salisu remained in custody until Monday afternoon.

Private citizens, political groups, or security forces threatened, assaulted, or arrested at least 13 journalists and other media workers during the election, according to CPJ interviews.

“The Nigerian authorities must immediately and unconditionally release journalist Haruna Mohammed Salisu, and hold accountable all those responsible for the intimidation and assault of at least 13 journalists and other media workers,” said Angela Quintal, CPJ’s Africa program coordinator, from New York. “Press freedom is an integral component of Nigeria’s democracy, and the media should be able to cover national polls without fear of reprisal.”

CPJ spoke to reporters who were at each incident on February 25:

• A group of people beat Dayo Aiyetan, executive director of the private non-profit International Center for Investigative Reporting, tore his clothes, and stole his phone and belongings after he made a film disrupting the election at a polling site in Abuja, the Nigerian capital. Ayetan said one person tried to stab someone, and reported the attack to the local police. Some of his belongings were returned, including his deleted phone.
• Youth in Ibadan, Oyo state, attacked vehicle from the News Agency of Nigeria to cover the election, one crew member told CPJ. Yinka Bode-Are, a camera operator, was traveling with a reporter and driver when the vehicle was hit with sticks and dents.
• The security forces asked Adesola Ikulajolua journalist with the local non-profit Center for Innovation and Development of Journalism, about his work and deleted a folder of pictures from his phone as he moved between polling places in Lagos. Ikulayolu said he believed they were from the Department of State Services because of the equipment and black clothes. DSS spokesman Peter Afunanya told CPJ that he was not aware of the incident and that black clothing did not prove DSS affiliation.
• In the town of Agbor, Delta state, supporters of the Peoples Democratic Party, one of Nigeria’s main political parties, punched each other Olabimtan ballreporter with the private news website TheCable, and knocked him overwhile others took her phone and deleted photos and videos before returning it.
• The police arrested and threatened to shoot Gbenga Oloniniran, a journalist with the privately owned Punch newspaper, in Port Harcourt, Rivers state, then drove to town and deleted the photos from his phone before releasing him. local media advocacy groups condemned the incident. Police officers also deleted photos from her phone in a separate incident after she took a photo at a polling site, she told CPJ. CPJ’s calls to Rivers state police spokeswoman Grace Woyengikuro Iringe-Koko were not answered.
• A group of people stopped Ajayi Adebolaa reporter with the Peoples Gazette private news website, at a polling site in Lagos, and content deleted from her phone. Some wore vests representing the All Progressives Congress, the other main party, he told CPJ. APC spokesman Felix Morka told CPJ that he would investigate the incident and that the party did not want supporters to target journalists.
• PDP supporters threatened or assaulted five journalists in three separate incidents in Sagbama, a council area in Bayelsa state: Akam James, a journalist with the privately owned Daily Post newspaper. slapped and hit; Princewill Sede and Jeany Metta, publisher and managing editor of the personal magazine Upfront News, were hit in the face and the camera was smashed; and Joe Kunde and Miebi Bina, journalists and camera operators for the private news broadcaster TVC, were scared and driven out of the area.

CPJ called Bauchi police spokesman Ahmed Mohammed Wakil for comment on Salisu’s arrest and sent questions through the messaging app, which was marked as read, but not received. Calls to Bauchi Governor Bala Mohammed and one of his aides, Muktar Gidado, went unanswered.

CPJ’s calls to national police spokesman Olumuyiwa Adejobi went unanswered.

A spokesman for the PDP presidential campaign council, Kola Ologbondiyan, told CPJ that the report of the incident involving the supporter was “false” and was asked to review the details, but did not immediately comment on what CPJ had been provided. Reached by phone, PDP spokesperson Debo Ologunagba asked for a call back, but he did not answer the call.

Days before the polls, journalists were also attacked or denied access to cover the election preparations, CPJ has reported.