Police in
Katsina State have detained a journalist in the state, Danjuma Katsina, over
alleged “injurious comments” on a newly elected member of Nigeria’s House of
Representatives
from the state, Mansur Mashi.
A colleague
of the journalist, Zaharadeen Umar, said Mr. Katsina was invited to the state’s
Police Command around 8 p.m. on Saturday to explain himself over a complaint
filed by the lawmaker.
However, the
police detained the journalist after taking his statement.
Mr. Katsina
had posted a comment on Facebook in which he analyzed the outcome of the
Mashi/Dutsi bye-election conducted in May, wondering why Mr. Mashi was allowed
to contest the polls despite facing court action on alleged corruption.
The
journalist was detained overnight despite efforts by the Katsina state branch
of the Nigerian Union of Journalists, NUJ, and officials of the Nigeria Guild
of Editors, NGE, to secure his release.
There have
been increasing cases of arrests and harassment of journalists and bloggers in
Nigeria, often on the orders of politicians.
PREMIUM
TIMES had reported many cases of harassment of journalists and blogger, this
year alone. Last month, a reporter in Kaduna state was brutalized and arrested
at his point of duty.
In
September, a blogger was detained for 22 days for criticizing the Bauchi State
governor.
The Katsina
Police spokesperson, Gambo Isah, said he was unaware of the journalist’s arrest
but promised to find out and get back. However, he neither got back nor picked
subsequent follow-up calls put through by this reporter.
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