Nigerian journalist Haruna Mohammed Salisu threatened over report on alleged fraud
Nigerian authorities should thoroughly investigate the threatening message received by journalist Haruna Mohammed Salisu and ensure his safety, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.
On March 13, at about 9 a.m., Salisu, owner and reporter at
the privately owned WikkiTimes news website, found a note slipped under his
office door in the city of Bauchi, the capital of Nigeria’s northern Bauchi
state, the journalist told CPJ in a phone interview.
The note, a copy of which CPJ reviewed, referenced a report
Salisu had published in January, and a civil suit that a local hospital filed
against him over that report.
“[W]e know where to get you, even if we didn’t win the case,
we know your house, we know your family members and we know all [your]
movements,” the note said.
Salisu told CPJ he was so worried by the note that he
suspended a training program for journalists that he was helping to organize
and took his family out of Bauchi state for fear of their safety.
“Nigerian authorities should ensure the safety of journalist
Haruna Mohammed Salisu and thoroughly investigate the source of the note
threatening him,” said Angela Quintal, CPJ’s Africa program coordinator, in New
York. “Threats against journalists must be taken seriously, especially since
the press in Nigeria routinely face violent reprisal for their work.”
The note referenced a January 18 report by Salisu, which
alleged that the Makkah Specialist Eye Hospital, a clinic in Bauchi state, had
extorted its patients and committed tax fraud.
On February 9, the clinic filed a civil defamation suit
against Salisu over that article, demanding 1.105 billion naira (US $2.9
million) in damages, according to the journalist and a WikkiTimes report.
The threatening note, a copy of which was published by the
Nigerian International Center for Investigative Reporting, criticized Salisu
for allegedly not seeking to “reach out to us for reconciliation” related to
the civil suit. The note is signed “for Makkah Eye Clinic.”
On March 15, Salisu’s lawyers petitioned the police to
ensure the journalist’s safety following the threat, according to the
journalist, a copy of the written petition reviewed by CPJ, and another
WikkiTimes report. Salisu told CPJ that police had invited him for questioning
in Bauchi, but he was hesitant to attend because he feared for his safety.
When CPJ called the general manager of the Makkah Specialist
Eye Hospital, Abdullahi Badamasi, he said he was “very surprised” to learn
about the threatening note. He said the note could not have come from any
hospital staffer, because the clinic planned to resolve its case in court.
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