By Our Correspondent
After remanded in prison custody over an investigative news report published on poor organization of 2023 Haj exercise, the Nigeria police said it was not aware that the material presented and used as an evidence against a Journalist was a news publication.
The police prosecutor and Investigative Police Officer (IPO), under Operation Yaki police Station, kaduna, Hassan Danladi made the confession in a face to face chat with the victim journalist outside chamber at Daura road magistrate court, Magajin Gari, kaduna while awaiting court sitting.
Recalled that an investigative journalist Mr. Idibia Gabriel was arrested and detained twice at police facility at operation Yaki police station, Kaduna, over a story he published in Daybreak newspapers online on poor organization of hajj 2023 exercise in kaduna camp.
The story titled: “Kaduna Hajj camp, a national shame, men-women sleep together in overcrowded hall”- Investigation”, published in September 24, 2023, led to the arrest, detentions and prostitution of the journalist in kaduna.
Police Officer Danladi who was trying to cultivate the Journalist relationship to withdraw the case said they don’t know it was a news publication and Mr. Idibia did not draw their attention to the original publication when he was invited, interrogated and detained twice before remanded in prison.
His word: “Mr. Idibia do you know that we didn’t know that it was a news publication. We were told you just record the video of people in Mando Hajj camp awaiting airlifting and sent it to social media with the intention just to instigate religious crises in kaduna state. So it was deliberate that we took the action especially me, I don’t know”.
He also said their attention did not go there when the victim Journalist drew his attention to the Mass Head of the photocopy of the news publication material supplied them by the then Mando Hajj camp Executive Secretary (ES), Yusuf Yakubu who was later removed.
He said the court case frustrated and later stalled indefinitely after it suffered several adjurement, deliberately suspected to have been instructed and engineered by the then Hajj camp ES who formally reportedly worked with FRCN kaduna zonal office, other Officials of Mando Hajj camp, and the court 2 prosecuting officials.
The Journalist lamented that at one point or the other the judge was no longer seating over his case when noticed the presence of the Journalist and his lawyer in court or sat in his office or pretended not to be sitting until journalist and his lawyer left court.
He said most times the public prosecuting lawyer would inform the journalist and his lawyer that their case came up yesterday even when it was not true, when the Journalist lawyer later insisted and checked the court case file.
“It was a hell of frustration. Me and my lawyer Barr Kure. K got tired and left the case hanging till date, in addition to lacking of the means to prosecute the alleged criminal matter against to the Appeal Court”, the Journalist further lamented.
Journalist Idibia Gabriel, frustrated by the court, disclosed this in a desperation in search of Human Rights Lawyers to return to the court and possibly file Appeal against the plaintiff on the news reports case he felt highly innocent.
Below is the link and audio footage of the contentious publication:
“Kaduna Hajj camp, a national shame, men, women sleep together in overcrowded hall – investigation – Daybreak, Politics, Entertainment, Sport” https://daybreak.ng/kaduna-hajj-camp-a-national-shame-men-women-sleep-together-in-overcrowded-hall-investigation/
