PUBLISHER of WikkiTimes, a Bauchi-based investigative platform, Haruna Salihu Mohammed, has been arrested allegedly on the order of the Bauchi State governor Bala Mohammed.
Haruna is reportedly being held at the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), Bauchi police headquarters.
A statement released on Sunday, February 26, and signed by the editor of WikkiTimes, Yakubu Mohammed, said the publisher was arrested earlier on Saturday, February 25, 2023, at Duguri, the governor’s hometown, while covering the Presidential and National Assembly elections.
“Before the arrest, Haruna was interviewing some women who were protesting that they submitted CVs but were not employed.
“During the course of the interview, the women started protesting that they would not vote.
“Soon, some hoodlums believed to be supporters of the governor attempted to lynch him before the police whisked him away,” Yakubu stated.
He said the police had explained that Haruna was taken away for his safety.
He said Haruna had spent more than 24 hours in detention.
“He was accused of sending the video of the women to the opposition APC. However, the video was shared with me, and the police had examined my phone as well after taking my statement,” Yakubu added.
Efforts made to reach the Bauchi State Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) Mohammed Wakil were unsuccessful as he did not pick his call nor respond to text messages sent to his mobile phone.
A reporter with the ICIR
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