THE Coalition for Whistleblowers Protection and Press Freedom (CWPPF) has condemned the recent harassment and intimidation of Abdulrasheed Hammad, a freelance journalist by security operatives, including the State Security Services (SSS) in Sokoto State.
In a statement jointly signed by 26 civil society organisations (CSOs) and media organisations, including The ICIR, Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP), Media Rights Agenda, International Press Institute and Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Hammad was invited by an SSS agent on Sunday, August 18, after exposing unregistered sachet water factories operating without NAFDAC approval.
His ordeal also included detention and physical abuse by the police under the instruction of a factory owner in Sokoto State.
The ICIR reports that Hammad and his fixer while working on the report for The Cable on how unregistered and expired sachet water factories operate in the state, were detained, beaten, and forced to pay a bribe for their release.
The incident happened when Hammad visited Al-Sheriff Pure Water Factory, on June 15, to investigate the company’s NAFDAC registration status.
The factory owner ordered workers to assault Hammad and his fixer, who were then forcibly taken to the Arkilla Police Station, handcuffed, and subjected to further harassment.
The police subsequently demanded N5,000 for bail and forced Hammad to write an apology letter to the factory owner, despite identifying himself as a journalist, working to safeguard the quality of water consumed by Nigerians.
Similarly, according to a tweet posted on his X handle, Hammad got a call from one Muhammed Ahmed on August 15, inviting him to the SSS office in Sokoto State.
When Hammad explained that he was not in Sokoto and couldn’t attend on the specified date, the SSS agent responded with a threat of arrest if he did not comply.
The coalition expressed concern over this invitation and threat by the SSS, stating that investigative journalism is not a crime and called on the Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, and the Director General of the SSS, Yusuf Magaji Bichi, to hold those responsible accountable.
The coalition further noted that it observed that powerful individuals used security agents, especially SSS officials to intimidate journalists via phone calls – where they are summoned and threatened without official communications established with their newsrooms.
It added that the approach was not only alarming but also unacceptable.
“While we acknowledge the role of security agencies in maintaining law and order, we reiterate that investigative journalism is not a crime under any known law in Nigeria and as such should not be criminalised.
“The leadership of the State Security Service and the Nigerian Police Force will therefore have to do more with educating their personnel on best practices of engaging journalists and direct them to stop harassing and intimidating journalists who are simply discharging their constitutional duties in the interest of the public.
“For future engagements where journalists may be required to provide insight to help with investigations, security agencies should follow the appropriate invitation procedure of sending an official invite to journalists and their newsrooms. This will enable them to prepare adequately before appearing. Such appearance should also not be turned into interrogation sessions because accountability journalism is not a crime,” the statement added.
The coalition also demanded that the Inspector-General of Police and the SSS Director-General hold the DPO of Arkilla Police Station and Muhammed Ahmed accountable for their actions against the journalist.
Usman Mustapha is a solution journalist with International Centre for Investigative Reporting. You can easily reach him via: [email protected]. He tweets @UsmanMustapha_M