Journalist accused of sharing content critical of Kano governor, emir sent back to prison

A journalist who was granted bail after being remanded in prison for sharing contents deemed critical of Kano State government officials, including Governor Abba Yusuf, and the reinstated emir, Lamido Sanusi, has been sent back to prison.

Muktar Dahiru of Radio Nigeria, Pyramid FM Kano, was initially arrested by the police and remanded in a correctional facility on 29 August for allegedly sharing on Facebook the contents considered offensive by the state government.

PREMIUM TIMES reported how Mr Dahiru was secretly arraigned before Magistrate Court 24 at Gyadi Gyadi, Court Road, for criminal conspiracy, defamation of character, and intentional insult. The government said the alleged offences contravene sections 97,391 and 115 of the Penal Code Law.

The magistrate, Ummah Kurawa, on 2 September granted Mr Dahiru a N1 million bail and banned him from posting content on social media that may be deemed offensive to the officials of the state government.

Other bail conditions include the provision of three sureties, one of whom must be the chairperson of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Mr Dahiru’s wife, and a reputable individual endorsed by the Kano Hisbah Board.

The court adjourned the sitting to 2 October. But on Tuesday, his lawyer, Yusuf Isah, told PREMIUM TIMES that Mr Muktar was re-arrested two days after he was released on bail and sent to Kurmawa correctional facility.

The lawyer said the court ordered the re-arrest of his client for allegedly failing to fulfil bail conditions.

The alleged crime

In several posts, Mr Dahiru shared a broadcast audio interview with an opposition politician accusing the governor of corruption.

The opposition politician challenged the governor to allow federal anti-corruption agencies to investigate the Novomed scandal instead of the state anti-corruption agency.

Novomed Pharmaceutical, owned by Musa Kwankwakso, a younger brother of the former governor, Rabiu Kwankwakso, is being investigated over a contract with the state government.

In another video post, Mr Dahiru shared a radio programme by the governor’s political adviser, Anas Abba-Dala, speculating that the Nigerian vice president, Kashim Shettima, is not a Nigerian.

In the programme, Mr Abba-Dala alleged that Mr Shettima betrayed his political godfather, Ali-Modu Sheriff, adding that it was Mr Shettima’s relatives who invaded a mosque in Kano and killed an Islamic cleric, Ja’afar Adam, in 2007. Mr Dahiru captioned the post: ”This is beyond politics.”

In another post, Mr Dahiru 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.

In another post, Mr Dahiru shared an audio recording of an opposition politician, Yusuf Fasaha, accusing the former governor, Mr Kwankwaso, of fraud.

“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,” Mr Fasaha said in the audio recording posted by the journalist.

The political adviser to the governor, Abba-Dala, complained against Mr Dahiru to the police that Mr 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).