Faridat Isiak, a 23-year-old journalist with Nagarta Radio in Kaduna State, has recounted her ordeal in police custody in the Mararaban Jos area of the state and her subsequent trial before a Sharia court in Kawo over a Facebook post.
Ms Isiak told Peoples Gazette on Thursday that the police used her father’s detention to lure her to the station in an attempt to resolve the matter amicably.
“When I went to the police station, I went to the police station because my dad was held. They asked me to put down my post and apologise to the DPO so he could release my dad and possibly accept my apology and allow me to go home with my parents,” the young journalist recounted.
She said family members, including leaders of the Yoruba community, were present at the station and pleaded for their release.
According to her, she was subsequently called into an office and asked to kneel and apologise to the divisional police officer, Usman Adamu.
“I begged him that the post was not intending to inflict any harm or cause an uproar between us.
“I was not intending to make him feel that way. He asked me for my name, I told him, and then he said, who sent me to write that post? I said, nobody,” she told The Gazette.
Ms Isiak said Mr Adamu asked whether she knew him before, to which she responded that she did not.
“Then he said, I should follow him and would lock me up and the next day, they would take me to court,” Ms Isiak said. “We went to the counter. I was asked to sit behind the counter. My name was taken. They asked for my phone. I told them my phone was not with me”.
The journalist said her statement was taken and she explained the circumstances surrounding a dispute between her mother and a woman who had bought charcoal and disagreed with her over a N100 balance.
Ms Isiak stressed that she had already deleted the Facebook post and apologised to the DPO but was uncertain whether her apology would be used against her in court.
“I already took down the post. I have apologised to the DPO. I was asking him, will this be used for me or against me in court? He said, either way,” she said.
She maintained that the matter could have been resolved amicably and questioned why it had escalated to a court case.
The journalist said she spent the night at the police station on Tuesday. According to her, the divisional crime officer later informed her that she might be granted bail, but another officer questioned her about why she had published the post.
“You think you can just write anything and go scot free? Things aren’t done that way.
“Now you have landed yourself into big trouble. Your case is going to be taken to court. When you reach the court, you explain to them the reason why you did that,” she told The Gazette.
Ms Isiak said she continued to apologise in the hope that the matter would be resolved.
She said she was taken to the Sharia court in Kawo between 12:00 p.m. and 1:00 p.m. on Wednesday, with the case called around 3:00 p.m.
According to her, she was accused of defaming the divisional police officer.
She said the judge asked whether she had authored the Facebook post on her page and she admitted that she had written it but denied intending to defame anyone.
Ms Isiak said the prosecutor maintained that the post was intentional.
“I have taken down the post and I have apologised to the DPO himself. I have explained to him that it wasn’t with the intention of defamation whatsoever. That’s what I told him and kept writing. I wasn’t given any room for a lawyer,” she explained.
The journalist alleged that she was denied access to a lawyer during the proceedings, adding that lawyers who came on behalf of her sister were initially not allowed to participate.
Ms Isiak said the court sentenced her to four years in prison, with the option of paying a ₦1.7 million fine.
She said her lawyers intervened after the judgement was delivered, noting that she should be given a fair hearing.
According to her, she was subsequently granted bail, while the case was adjourned to November 3.
The circumstances of the judgement, the sentence and the subsequent bail require clarification from the court and the parties involved.
Meanwhile, a Lagos-based lawyer, Bolaji Oluwatosin, told the Gazette on Thursday that the law prohibits the arrest or detention of one person solely to compel another person to honour a police invitation.
Mr Oluwatosin cited Section 7 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, 2015 and Section 36 of the Nigeria Police Act, 2020, as provisions prohibiting arrest in lieu of a suspect.
He said that if the journalist’s father was detained solely to compel her attendance at the police station, without an independent lawful basis for his detention, the action could amount to an abuse of police powers and a violation of her father’s right to personal liberty.
He added that Section 35 of the 1999 Constitution, as amended, guarantees the right to personal liberty.
“The police are empowered to enforce the law, not to circumvent it; and no person’s liberty may lawfully be used as an instrument of coercion against another,” he added.
Mr Oluwatosin said the police’s power to investigate crime did not authorise them to hold one person responsible for another person’s conduct.
The Gazette had earlier reported that Amnesty International condemned the journalist’s arrest and the four-year prison sentence reportedly imposed on her over the Facebook post.
The state police spokesperson, Mansir Hassan, was not available for comment. Text and WhatsApp messages sent to him remained unanswered as of press time.
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