First they came for the socialists and I did not speak out—because I was not a socialist. Then they came for the trade unionists and I did not speak out—because I was not a trade unionist. Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me. – Martin Niemöller
The on-going persecution and prosecution of 19-year old Hamdiyya Sidi Sharif from a small village in the remote Wurno Local Government Area (LGA) by Governor Aliyu Ahmad of Sokoto State is sadly so symptomatic of the dictatorship we describe as ademocracy.
Her offence was doing the duty of a citizen journalist by calling for concern on the continuous (nine and counting) bandit attacks on the neighbouring Sabon-Birni LGA. Her audio-visual post in October 2024 included cutting questions on why the governor never saw the need to visit the community to date and how it lacked all critical amenities such as police post, hospital, roads and schools.
For this, the Deputy-Commander of the Community Guards Corps (CGC) Muhammad Dantine arrested Hamdiyya and two of her brothers-in-law. In the process, he beat, brutalised and threatened them with death for days before handing them over to the police to be charged to court for ‘use of insulting language’ and ‘inciting disturbance’ against the governor.
Before the arraignment, they were paraded aroundministries in Sokoto as some serious criminals. Three days after the court eventually bailed them on November 13th Hamdiyya was abducted from a street and taken away in a tricycle where she was assaulted, beaten, injured, strangled with a cord and left for dead in a cold bush on the outskirts of her village.
Even with all these horrendous human rights violations in the public domain, the callous cohorts of Governor Aliyu are not content. They are gunning for a conviction to hammer one more nail into the coffin of press freedom. Even if the courts refuse to comply, Hamdiyya is scarred for life.
In a statement last week, Amnesty International in Nigeria, through its Director Isa Sanusi, observed that “Right now, apart from facing prosecution for exercising freedom of expression, Hamdiyya Sidi Sharif and her lawyer Abba Hikima are being subjected to threats, including phone calls and in-person confrontations by sponsored thugs and individuals claiming to be intelligence agents.” According to him,“These actions represent an alarming abuse of power and a calculated attempt to intimidate and punish those who speak out for their society.”
This is even understating the priority put on this case by a public office holder who swore an oath to protect the constitutional rights of all citizens. So, while 13 LGAs in Sokoto State remain under the siege ofbandits, the CGC is reportedly utilising government vehicles and logistics on daily trips to procure and prepare witnesses to testify against Hamdiyya. For perspective, Governor Ahmad Aliyu’s frightening intolerance of dissenting voices peaked last year when he attempted to pass legislation whittling the powers of the Sultan of Sokoto, Nigeria’s most revered religious and traditional institution.
Hamdiyya will be lucky if she survives this ordeal.According to the International Federation of Journalists’ (IFJ), one hundred and twenty-two journalists and media workers, including 14 women, were exterminated last year. The figure is just seven below the 129 killings of media professionals in 2023, which was among the worst for journalists since the IFJ started its annual Killed List in 1990.
Globally, the casualties are spiralling on account of the on-going genocide in Palestine by the illegal state of Israel. As of January 14, 2025, the Committee for Protection of Journalists (CPJ) preliminary investigations showed at least 160 journalists and media workers were among the more than tens of thousands killed in Gaza, the West Bank, Israel and Lebanon since the war began, making it the deadliest period for journalists since CPJ began gathering data in 1992.The breakdown is 152 Palestinian, two Israeli, and six Lebanese. There were also 49 journalists reported injured, two journalists reported missing and 75 journalists were reported arrested. This is not counting those that suffered multiple assaults, threats, cyber-attacks, censorship and killings of family members.
Hamdiyya will also be extremely lucky if she escapes conviction and jail. The IFJ revealed that as of 31 December 2024, 516 journalists were in prison – a sharp increase compared with 2023 (427) and 2022 (375). Again, while China (including Hong Kong) is the worst offender, with 135 journalists behind bars, Israel ranks second and is imprisoning 59 Palestinian journalists and Myanmar 44.
The IFJ described it as a grim reminder of the contempt with which the provisions of the Geneva Convention have been treated by the Israeli government. Its statement said “Journalists and media installations are protected under the rights granted to civilians in international law. The right to due process is being swept away as Palestinian journalists are targeted. Simultaneously, independent journalists from outside the region are denied access in what is effectively a war on journalism itself.”
The Reporters Without Borders (RSF) 2024 Round-up also reveals an alarming intensification of attacks on journalists — especially in conflict zones, This violence — often perpetrated by governments and armed groups with total impunity — needs an immediate response. RSF called for urgent action to protect journalists and journalism.
According to RSF, “Journalists do not die, they are killed; they are not in prison, regimes lock them up; they do not disappear, they are kidnapped. These crimes — often orchestrated by governments and armed groups with total impunity — violate international law and too often go unpunished. We need to get things moving, to remind ourselves as citizens that journalists are dying for us, to keep us informed. We must continue to count, name, condemn, investigate and ensure that justice is served. Fatalism should never win. Protecting those who inform us is protecting the truth.
Sometimes it is so scary that journalists just abandon the task. Then regular civilians step in to fill the void. Hamdiyya Sidi Sharif from Sokoto State did just that and is paying the price for speaking truth to power.
Under normal circumstances, journalists have theconstitutional and social responsibility of fostering justice, peace, unity and progress. Section 22 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) provides that “The press, radio and television and other agencies of the mass media shall at all times be free to uphold the fundamental objectives and Directive principles of State and uphold the responsibility and accountability of the Government to the people.”
Similarly, Section 39 guarantees the freedom of expression including the right to hold opinions and to receive and impart ideas and information. It also extends to the right “to own, establish and operate any medium for the dissemination of information, ideas and opinions.” Observing this provision in the breech, Nigerian politicians have even attempted severally to make laws regulating the social media.
So, the RSF ranks Nigeria 115 out of 180 and 22ndworst African nation in freedom of information and press freedom in 2022. It stated that “Nigeria is now one of West Africa’s most dangerous and difficult countries for journalists. They are regularly spied upon, attacked, arbitrarily arrested or even killed, often denied access to information by government officials, police and sometimes the public itself.”
Journalists covering certain ‘no go’ areas are especially endangered. They put their livelihoods and even lives at stake by simply seeking the truth. Some subjects newsmen may not safely report include abuse of power, corruption in government, inefficiencies that hinder development; atrocities and aggression by Zionist-controlled Euro-American state actors and their military-industrial complex all over the world; injustices of Zionists in Palestine and the depravities of the LGBTQ+ community. Solely shedding the spotlight on such subjects may put a journalist on many separate hit-lists.
It is a mark of its importance that no other profession has a specific duty assigned to it in the Constitution. Truly the fourth estate of the realm after the legislature, executive and judiciary has a role to play as independent monitor of freedom, democracy and good governance. Only corrupt regimes fear a free press. War-mongers also detest the mass media when it pushes for peace. All these highlight the need for global action to defend journalism and the right to seek the truth.
hassantom@yahoo.co.uk
