The Coalition for Whistleblowers Protection and Press Freedom, CWPPF, has condemned the reported attack on the Kaduna State correspondent of the Daily Times Newspaper, Gabriel Idibia, by officers of the Kaduna State Command of the Nigerian Police Force, NPF.

Gabriel Idibia was alleged to have been arrested on Tuesday the 11th of June, 2024, while taking pictures of a large herd of cattle being shepherded by the police on Kachia expressway, a usually busy road in the state.

The journalist who was not only alleged to have been taken into custody and brutally beaten up, was also said to have insisted that the physical torture severely affected his eyes forcing him to access eye treatment.

In a statement by members of the CWPPF and made available to our reporter in Taraba, the group called on the Inspector General of Police, to as a matter of urgency investigate the allegation and bring the perpetrators to book.

“We urge the Inspector General of Police, Mr Kayode Egbetokun, to ensure that a thorough investigation is conducted into the matter and that all officers involved in the unlawful arrest and assault of Mr Gabriel Idibia be made to face the appropriate legal sanctions,” the statement read.

In the statement jointly signed by Premium Times, Cable Newspaper Journalism Foundation, Daily Trust Newspaper, International Centre for Investigative Reporting, ICIR, Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism, WSCIJ, Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development, CJID, among others, the group said the attack is a violation of the reporter’s fundamental human rights and constitutes an outright infringement on press freedom and the public’s rights to information and expression.

“We find it rather disturbing that men of the Nigeria Police Force not only arrested Mr Idibia unlawfully but also resorted to assaulting him for simply performing his constitutionally guaranteed duties as a journalist. This is certainly not a practice welcomed in a democratic state like Nigeria and it stands condemned in strong terms.

“Journalists play an essential role without which democracy cannot function; therefore, they must be protected and not attacked by the police and all other security agencies.”