CWPPF condemns harassment of journalist Abdulrasheed Hammad by DSS and Police in Sokoto state

Tuesday, 20 August, 2024 – The Coalition for Whistleblowers Protection and Press Freedom (CWPPF) condemns the recurrent incessant attacks on journalists by state agents, especially security officials including men of the State Security Service (SSS) otherwise known as the Department of State Service (DSS) exemplified by the reported invite of a journalist, Abdulrasheed Hammad, over a report published by TheCable.

According to a tweet posted on his X handle, Mr. Hammad got a call from one Muhammed Ahmed on the 15th of August, inviting him to the DSS office in Sokoto state. Hammad was summoned over a report he did to spotlight how 22 sachet water factories in Sokoto state continued to produce and sell pure water to the public without registering with the National Agency For Food And Drug Administration And Control (NAFDAC). According to Hammad’s report, some other 12 pure water factories continue production despite the expiration of their NAFDAC registration.

Upon informing the DSS agent that he wasn’t in Sokoto and would not be able to show up in the DSS’ office on the stipulated date, the caller threatened to arrest him if he failed to appear in their office.

The management of TheCable had also asked the DSS to write a letter of invitation to the company before the reporter is made available for questioning. But the DSS insisted it wouldn’t deal with the company, threatening that the reporter would be arrested if he didn’t present himself at the Sokoto office. Further options provided by the TheCable management, including an interview with the reporter at the Abuja office of the secret service agency, to resolve the issue were also rejected by the DSS who insisted the reporter must be present in Sokoto, even when there are concerns over his safety in the state.

In a chat with the secretariat of the CWPPF, the reporter said he and his fixer had on the 15th of June, been arrested, harassed and detained by the owner of Al- Sherif Pure Water, one of the water factories in his report. Hammad and his fixer were both beaten, handcuffed and dehumanised by certain individuals and police personnel of Arkilla police station on the instruction of the factory owner. The Divisional Police Officer (DPO) of Arkilla police station questioned and charged them N5,000 for bail. He subsequently referred them to the Crime Investigations Department (CID) of the Sokoto state police command.

The reporter was further forced to write a letter of apology to the owner of Al-Sherif pure water by the men of the Arkilla police division before he and his fixer were released.

The reporter however disclosed through his X handle on Saturday, the 17th of August that the 5,000 naira which he was charged for bail was refunded to him on the instruction of the DPO of Arkilla police station who reached out to him to apologise for the incident but said the officer who harassed and extorted the journalist had been transferred to Kano.

We have noticed that powerful individuals resort to using security agents, especially DSS officials to intimidate journalists via phone calls – where they are summoned and threatened without official communications established with their newsrooms. This approach is 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 leaderships 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 appearances should also not be turned into interrogation sessions because accountability journalism is not a crime.

We also call on the Inspector General of Police and the Director General of the DSS to respectively hold the DPO of Arkilla Police station and Mr Muhammed Ahmed for their actions against Abdulrasheeed Ahmed and his fixer.

Signed:

CWPPF Secretariat

For:

CWPPF members

Premium Times

The Cable

Daily Trust Newspaper

International Centre for Investigative Reporting (ICIR)

Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism (WSCIJ)

Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development (CJID)

African Centre for Media & Information Literacy (AFRICMIL)

Civic Media Lab