Kaduna police DPO detains female journalist, parents over N100 dispute

Usman Adamu, the divisional police officer (DPO) of Mararaban Jos in Kaduna State, has detained a young female journalist, Farida Isiak, and her parents, following a dispute between her mother and a neighbour over the sale of charcoal.

Ms Farida, a 23-year-old journalist with Nagarta Radio in Kaduna, was taken into custody around 10 p.m. on 20 October, family sources and neighbours who pleaded not be named for fear of retribution told PREMIUM TIMES.

She was arrested hours after police had detained her parents to lure her to the police station.

The episode began on 19 October when the journalist’s mother, a business owner, sold N400 worth of charcoal to a young girl sent by their neighbour.

“The girl brought N500, but the Mama had no change,” said a family member. “Then she asked the girl to go with the money and charcoal, instructing her to bring the money later.”

According to the family, the girl returned later with money and was given a N100 balance.

“The following day, the neighbour returned to buy another N400 worth of charcoal. She paid N500 but demanded N200 in change, claiming she had not received her balance the previous day. Mama, however, explained that she had already given the girl the N100 change,” the family source continued.

The disagreement escalated, with the neighbour allegedly insulting the journalist’s mother before calling her sister, who came from another area.

Witnesses said the two women later attempted to force their way into the journalist’s mother’s house.

“They forced their way into her parlour, but the woman threatened to pour hot water on them, prompting them to flee,” a neighbour said.

They subsequently returned with police officers, who arrested the journalist’s mother.

Journalist’s Facebook post sparks police action

Ms Farida learnt of her mother’s arrest while at work and took to Facebook to criticise the police over the incident, a family member said.

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Her father, who had travelled to Zaria, later contacted her, saying the police wanted her to report to the station and delete the post.

“When the father returned, he went to the police station to secure his wife’s release but was also detained,” the family source added, alleging that the police subsequently used her parents’ detention to get the journalist.

Upon arriving, the family member said officers accused the journalist of defaming the police and demanded that she delete the Facebook post and apologise to Mr Adamu, the DPO.

“She complied with the demands in the hope of resolving the matter and securing her parents’ release,” the family member continued.

Surprisingly, police detained the journalist despite deleting the post and threatened to take legal action against her.

She had since remained in custody and had not been released as of press time.

Mansir Hassan, the spokesperson for Kaduna police command sent the contact of the DPO to PREMIUM TIMES for further enquiry.

When contacted for comment, Mr Adamu cut the call, saying a journalist could not speak to him over the phone.