Daily Trust condemns abduction of reporter
Media Trust Limited, the publisher of Daily Trust titles has condemned the abduction of one of its reporters by armed policemen. The House of Representatives correspondent of Daily Trust Newspaper, Mr. Musa Abdullahi Krishi, was abducted at the National Assembly complex on Tuesday by armed policemen The Executive Officer/Editor-In-Chief, Mannir Dan-Ali in a statement described […]
Media Trust Limited, the publisher of Daily Trust titles has condemned the abduction of one of its reporters by armed policemen.
The House of Representatives correspondent of Daily Trust Newspaper, Mr. Musa Abdullahi Krishi, was abducted at the National Assembly complex on Tuesday by armed policemen
The Executive Officer/Editor-In-Chief, Mannir Dan-Ali in a statement described the abduction as an act of intimidation not only on Daily Trust journalists and newspaper, but an unwarranted assault on Journalism and the media profession in the country.
The reporter was hauled into a Hilux Van with Registration Number ABJ RSH 850 AH from the Divisional Police Office at the National Assembly by a team of six plain cloth policemen who claimed to be taking him to Kano for interrogation.
According to the statement, the reporter was abducted following the publication of a paid advertisement which the governor of Jigawa State, Muhammad Badaru had taken exception to.
"Though the full ramifications of the investigation they claimed to be carrying out has not been made known to the management of Daily Trust, the abduction of Krishi is the height of intimidation visited upon this company since January 26, 2018 following the publication of a paid advertisement.
"The advertorial in question had no criminal content; it was not in any way libellous against the governor of Jigawa State or any other political personality contained therein which the governor of Jigawa State had taken exception to".
The management said it was shocked that the Police in Kano upstaged the IGP’s investigation by coming to Abuja to abduct one of our reporters, adding that the police in Kano can only do this because of undue pressures from Jigawa State Government.
"If anything, this is a civil-cum-political issue, and, as a newspaper, we have bent over backward by carrying out the necessary retraction and publishing the disclaimers by the government of Jigawa State. The abduction of our journalist was unwarranted and an abuse on the rights of our reporter", the statement read.
The management, therefore, called for the immediate release of Musa Abdullahi Kirshi, and demanded an unreserved apology from the Kano State Command of the Nigeria Police.
It also appealed to the Inspector-General of Police and President Muhammadu Buhari to call the Police in Kano to order and instruct them to return the reporter to his duty post at the National Assembly.