Police quiz Trust TV journalist over #EndBadGovernanceInNigeria protests

Police officers attached to the Intelligence Response Team (IRT) from the Force Headquarters, on Sunday, visited the corporate headquarters of Media Trust Group, owners of Daily Trust, Trust TV and Trust Radio and interrogated a producer of one of the programmes of the television channel.

The operatives, who drove in some vehicles at about 6 p.m. in search of one of the producers of the Daily Politics programme, Amina Ibrahim, said they were tracking “a suspect”, whom they said had had telephone conversations with the female producer.

The officers, who initially insisted on arresting Ms Ibrahim, ultimately agreed to question her within the premises of the Media Trust Group’s head office and allowed her to continue with her work, even as they said she still had more questions to answer.

Daily Trust’s findings revealed that the operatives were on the trail of one of the leaders of the #EndBadGovernance protests, who had, on Day 1 of the protest, appeared as a guest on Trust Television.

As one of the programme’s producers, Ms Ibrahim had to liaise with the protester (name withheld) to facilitate his appearance on Daily Politics on Thursday, 1 August.

Daily Politics is the flagship programme of Trust TV, on which issues around politics, policy and governance are discussed with guests from diverse backgrounds.

Narrating her ordeal to Daily Trust, Ms Ibrahim, who was visibly traumatised after her encounter with the police operatives, said, “I received a phone call at about noon today (Sunday) from an unknown number claiming to be a dispatch rider.

“I said, ‘Okay, from where and from who are you bringing the message to deliver to me?’ He said he was asked to deliver the stuff from his office.

“I asked him what the package was, and he said, ‘no idea.’

“The next thing he asked was my home address, and I told him why the person who sent him didn’t give him my home address.

“He said he was told to ask for the address from me. However, his answer did not resonate with me, and I sensed danger! I, therefore, ended the call, got set and then went to the office, with the intention of calling him when I settled down at work.

“Around 2 p.m., I got to the office. I called him to ask if he knew where the Daily Trust building was located. He said yes. Then I asked him to meet me there.

“He called me after 30 minutes that he was outside the gate. I said ‘Okay’, and, on reaching the gate, I saw a dispatch rider, but he was just looking at me. So, I made an attempt to call the number that called me earlier. This was when I saw a different person approaching me. And within seconds, I saw many men wielding AK47 rifles! And before I could say anything, they surrounded me.

“The man I was talking with on the phone, who I presumed was their leader, said I should not move. He said I should cooperate with them.
“I was appalled by his request. While standing in front of the gate of our office, he said I should dial a certain number on my phone. I asked him why. But he insisted that I should dial the number.

“I told him, ‘No, I will not dial any number’. If they have any case to sort out with me, especially something that has to do with my work, they should come into the office. But if it is a private matter, I would be ready to follow them to wherever they want to take me to.

“This was when one of my supervisors, Mr Chigbu Precious, approached us. And they followed us to the reception. But before then, he asked some of the operatives to remove their uniforms and take back their rifles to their vehicles, and they complied.

“While at the reception, Mr Precious asked them some questions, but they were unyielding; they insisted that I should dial the number using my phone.

“I resisted, and instead, I put a call to Hamza Idris, who is the General Editor (of Daily Trust) and Anchor of the (Daily Politics) programme I produce,” Ms Ibrahim said.

When Mr Idris got to the reception, he asked the operatives about their mission, and after some back-and-forth with them, he called the Group Chief Executive Officer of Media Trust, Ahmed Shekarau, and notified him of what was happening.

Mr Idris said, “The police operatives told me that they were tracking a certain suspect, and they discovered that Amina was in touch with the person, and that is why they tracked her number, and they wanted her to give them details of the man.

“I told them it was not possible for her to disclose the identity of guests on the programme she produces. I requested that they give us the number of the person they were looking for so that we can address the matter at the highest level of our company in the event it has to do with our operations.
“But they were reluctant to do so until after our GCEO, who, after carefully assessing the situation, gave the nod for Amina to answer the questions of the operatives. He also directed that she should dial the number so as to establish if really, she had any contact with the person they were looking for.”

According to the editor, after Ms Ibrahim dialled the number, the name of the “suspect” did not appear on her phone. “But it appeared that the operatives were not convinced, and they didn’t want to let her go,” Mr Idris said.

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According to him, “This back-and-forth lasted for nearly two hours! I then requested that they allow me to dial the number on my phone, being the anchor of Daily Politics, and they agreed.

“It was at that point I discovered that, indeed, they were looking for one of the leaders of the #EndBadGovernance protest, whom we hosted during one of our programmes,” he said.

Mr Idris reiterated to the police officers that considering the provisions of the Nigerian constitution and the laws guiding journalism practice, reporters have the right to interview interested parties and are obliged to protect their sources.

The security agents finally agreed to depart, though they still insisted that they might require the Trust TV producer to answer more questions.