Journalist remanded in prison for allegedly sharing content critical of Kano state governor, emir
A magistrate court in Kano State has ordered remand of a journalist Muktar Dahiru, a staffer of Radio Nigeria, Pyramid FM Kano for allegedly sharing media content deemed critical of state government officials, including Governor Abba Yusuf and the reinstated emir, Lamido Sanusi.
Penpushing reports that the journalist was earlier arrested by the police and subsequently charged to court with criminal conspiracy, defamation of character, and intentional insult, and offence allegedly committed on facebook.
The accused was said to have in several posts, shared a broadcast audio interview with an opposition politician accusing the governor of corruption, while the opposition politician challenged the Governor to allow federal anti-corruption agencies to investigate the Novomed scandal instead of the state anti-corruption agency.
Penpushing further reports that Novomed Pharmaceutical, owned by Musa Kwankwakso, a younger brother of the former governor, Rabiu Kwankwakso, is being investigated over a contract with the Kano state government.
The detained journalist in another video post, shared a radio programme by the Governor’s political adviser, Anas Abba-Dala, speculating that the Nigerian Vice President, Senator Kashim Shettima, is not a Nigerian.
Penpushing also reports that in the programme, Abba-Dala alleged that Shettima betrayed his political godfather, Ali-Modu Sheriff, and that that it was Shettima’s relatives who invaded a mosque in Kano and killed an Islamic cleric, Ja’afar Adam, in 2007.
The journalist was reported to have captioned the post:” This is beyond politics, while in another post he shared an audio programme in which one person accuses the reinstated emir of pretentiousness by portraying himself as sympathetic to the poor while living an expensive lifestyle like a woman.
Penpushing reports that Dahiru in another post shared was an audio recording of an opposition politician, Yusuf Fasaha, accusing the former Governor, Kwankwaso, of fraud, stressing that Kwankwaso collected N320 million from a group for the interest nomination form, refused to conduct a primary election, instead later shared the seats with people of his choice.
“When we were in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Kwankwaso collected N320 million from our group for the interest nomination form, but he later shared the seats with people he liked and refused to conduct a primary election. We requested a refund of our money in several meetings, but Kwankwaso refused to refund it,” Fasaha said in the audio recording posted by the journalist.
Penpushing further reports that the journalist was secretly charged before Magistrate Court 24 at Gyadi Gyadi, Court Road, with criminal conspiracy, defamation of character, and intentional insult, an offence the state government considered as contravene sections 97,391 and 115 of the Penal Code Law.
The Adviser to Governor on political affairs complained to the police that Dahiru, in a Facebook post, called him an illiterate person and that he tarnished his image by stating that he impregnated a woman (out of wedlock).
Penpushing also reports that the magistrate, Ummah Kurawa, however, in his ruling ordered the journalist to be remanded in a correctional facility until September 3, 2024 for a bail application hearing.
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