THE publisher of WikkiTimes Haruna Mohammed Salisu and his family have been threatened following the publication of an investigative report exposing how Yakubu Dogara, a former speaker of the House of Representatives and the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC), squandered N1 billion meant for a constituency school project.
The investigation by the online platform revealed that the former speaker squandered N1 billion allocated to building model schools in Bauchi South Federal Constituency, which he represents.
Salisu said, “At about 3:27 pm, my younger brother called me and told me that some three men in Peugeot 406 with a covered number plate came to my house and were asking for my whereabouts.
“He told them that I have travelled, and they asked if he was aware of a ‘damaging’ story I did about Yakubu Dogara. He told them that he was not aware of anything.
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“They told him to tell me that since I have done my own, I should wait for their own.”
The story, which detailed how the former speaker fell short in delivering the model school project, also unearthed how the contractors shortchanged several communities billed to benefit from the project.
The threats came hours after a group Dogara Digital Media Support Team wrote and circulated a purported rejoinder debunking WikkiTimes’ investigation.
The latest threat to the publisher is coming just three months after a similar threat was issued to him following an investigation which detailed how Makkah Eye Clinic, owned by Saudi Arabia Albasar International Foundation, deviated from its creed of affordable healthcare and resorted to charging clients three times the amount in similar private institutions.
The Committee to Protect Journalists has reported that Nigeria is one of the countries where journalists are unsafe. According to CPJ, between 1992 to 2021, at least 24 Nigerian journalists have either died or got missing while doing their jobs.