Daily Trust Newspaper is reporting that their Maiduguri regional office was “invaded” Sunday 06 January by men of the Nigerian Army and “arrested” their regional editors Uthman Abubakar and a reporter, Ibrahim Sawab and “shut the gate” to the office.
The military have not confirmed this information and no reason was given for the arrest of the journalists but the media house suspects it may not been unconnected with some major stories carried by the platform on military operations in the northeast recently.
Although there is ongoing counter-insurgency operation in the terrorist hotbed of Borno State, the State is not legally under “a State of emergency” and therefore should be until civil police command.
Daily Trust, launched since 2001 and based in Abuja, is considered one of the leading newspaper houses in Nigeria.
This development is set to raise additional concerns about the freedom of press in Nigeria under the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari, as general elections in February draws ever closer.
We will be updating this page as more details are available.
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