Police Arrest, Deny Journalist Bail For Undisclosed Reasons In Northwest Nigeria
The leadership of the Nigeria Union of Journalists, Zamfara Council, was not allowed to bail the journalist.
The police in Zamfara State, Northwest Nigeria, on Saturday, July 23, arrested and detained Umaru Maradun, the correspondent of the Leadership Newspapers, for an undisclosed reason.
HumAngle learnt that Maradun was in his home town in the Maradun Government Area of the state by uniformed officers who drove him to the State Criminal Investigation Department (CID) in Gusau, the state capital.
In a bid to secure his release, Ibrahim Maizare, chairman of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Zamfara Council, led officials of the NUJ and that of Correspondents’ Chapel to the Zamfara Police headquarters but he was not released to them as police declined the journalist’s bail.
Maradun’s arrest came a day after police raided the head office of Peoples Gazette located in the Utako area of Nigeria’s capital, Abuja, and arrested five newspaper staff members.
The journalists were released hours after the intervention of Ken Eluma Asogwa, the newspaper’s lawyer.
Media groups and local journalism unions have been advocating for the protection of journalists in Nigeria. As a result, Nigeria ranks 120 out of 180 countries on The World Press Freedom Index Reporters Without Borders.
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