The Nigeria Union of Journalists has strongly cautioned the Nigeria Police Force against the systematic abuse of power and blatant disregard for the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, following the controversial arrest, detention, and hurried sentencing of Farida Isiak, a twenty-three-year-old journalist with Nagarta Radio in Kaduna State.
The disturbing chain of events began from a petty dispute over a one hundred naira change from a charcoal purchase involving Farida’s mother and a neighbour, which quickly escalated when her mother was detained and her father met the same fate at the police station simply for attempting to secure her bail.
Things took a more alarming turn when Farida presented herself at the station to intervene, only to be accused of defaming the police in a Facebook post where she decried the high-handed treatment metted out to her elderly parents by law enforcement officers.
Although the young journalist promptly deleted the social media post and tendered an apology, she was hastily arraigned before a court in Kawo and handed a shocking four-year prison sentence or an option of a one million, seven hundred and fifty thousand naira fine for defamation.
Swift intervention by legal practitioners prevented her immediate transfer to a correctional facility, resulting in her subsequent release on bail while a retrial has been officially scheduled for November 3, 2026, to thoroughly review the glaring procedural anomalies.
Condemning the high-handedness, the NUJ leadership stressed that this judicial reprieve must not be misconstrued as a resolution of the systemic injustice, warning that clamping down on media practitioners directly undermines the supreme law of the land.
The national leadership reminded law enforcement agencies that Sections thirty-five, thirty-six, and thirty-nine of the 1999 Constitution explicitly guarantee personal liberty, fair hearing, and freedom of expression without undue state interference or malicious intimidation.
The umbrella body for Nigerian journalists maintained that while media professionals are not above the law, employing criminal proceedings and kangaroo court sentences to settle personal scores over legitimate public criticism is an intolerable assault on democratic principles.
Public institutions must remain open to transparent scrutiny and address grievances through civil legal procedures rather than weaponising state machinery to suppress public accountability and discourage citizens from reporting official misconduct.
The Union demanded an impartial and thorough investigation by the Kaduna State Police Command into the unprofessional conduct of personnel involved in the arbitrary arrests, while urging judicial authorities to ensure absolute fairness during the upcoming November retrial.
Concluding the strong national statement signed by National President Alhassan Yahya Abdullahi, the NUJ warned that protecting Farida Isiak is a defense of every citizen’s fundamental rights, vowing to fiercely resist any attempt to reduce the fourth estate of the realm to silence.
