The directive of Governor Mohammed Umaru Bago of Niger State for the shutdown of Badeggi FM Radio in Minna, the state capital, is generating a storm.

Bago had directed the State Commissioner of Police and Commissioner for Homeland Security, Brigadier General Bello Abdullahi Mohammed (RTD) to shut down the media outfit.

The Governor also directed that the licence of the station be confiscated and the owner be profiled.

The Chief Press Secretary to Governor, Bologi Ibrahim, in a statement said the governor gave the directive during the expanded Niger State All Progressives Congress (APC) Caucus meeting held at the Government House, Minna.

According to Ibrahim, the decision was taken because the daily activities of the Radio station.

?Governor Bago also accused the owner of the Station for incitement of the people against government and directed that the license of the Radio station be revoked.?

?The governor directed the Commissioner for Homeland Security and the Commissioner of Police to seal the radio station, and emphasised the need for the security operatives to profile the owner of the radio station as his station promotes violence?, Ibrahim Said.

Reacting to Governor?s Order, the Director of Operations of Badeggi FM, Abubakar Shuaib, implored the governor to channel his complaints through proper channels rather than directing security Operatives to harass the owner and staff of the radio station.

?The right thing to do is to write to the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) for investigation. NBC has schedule of our programmes and we are being monitored everyday. So, the governor should write to NBC and let the regulatory agency verify our contents and programme to establish if they contravened any of the NBC codes or ethical provisions. We cannot do anything to undermine the public peace and security of the state. Our duty is to hold leaders accountable and that is what we are doing. We don?t have anything against any individual or state government?, he said.

Previous Attacks on Journalists

Checks by Daily Trust showed that this is not the first time journalists and the media have been assaulted under the current administration in Niger State.

In November 2023, six months after assuming office, the Commissioner for Homeland Security, Brigadier General Bello Abdullahi Mohammed (RTD) was said to have assaulted and attempted to seize the midget of a Voice of America reporter, Mustapha Nasiru Batsari, in government house Minna, when the reporter approached him for a comment on a lingering Clash between Fulani and Gbagyi Farmers in Beji, Bosso LGA of the state which claimed lives.

Mustapha Batsari disclosed that he had called the commissioner several times via telephone without response, adding that he went to his office but did not meet him, and he decided to approach him in government house to get the side of the government on the report he was working on but the Commissioner rained abuse on him and attempted to seize his midget.

?It took intervention of people around. The commissioner in charge of security threatened my life and tried to seize my recording garget?. Batsari said.

Similarly, in January 2025, the state Correspondent of the People?s Daily Newspaper, and Chairman, Correspondents? Chapel of the Nigerian Union of Journalists, Yakubu Mustapha Bina, was held for several hours by the Department of State Services (DSS) in over a report he did on banditry.

Bina was also held for several hours with his mobile phones seized for three days at the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID) of the state police command for allegedly sharing an article critical of the Special Adviser to the Governor on Print Media, Aisha Wakaso.

The police action followed a direct criminal complaint filed against the reporter at the Minna Magistrate Court by the plaintiff who alleged that defendant circulated the article on WhatsApp groups without verifying its authenticity.

Amnesty Int?l, Residents, CSO React

Many residents of Niger State including members of the All Progressives Congress and Civil Society Organizations, the Amnesty International and a Minna based Civil Society Organization, the Accountability Ambassadors have condemned the decision of the governor, describing it as attempt to suppress freedom of expression.

The Amnesty International said targeting independent media was aimed at depriving the people the opportunity to receive fair and objective reporting of issues affecting their lives.

?Amnesty International strongly condemns the lawless and repressive order issued yesterday by Governor Umar Bago of Niger state for the closure of Badeggi 90.1 FM Radio Minna ? which is an independent sources of news for the people of Niger state.

?The governor?s allegation against the radio station of ?inciting violence? and his reckless order that ?the license of the Radio station be revoked? clearly show abuse of power and unacceptable intolerance of critical voices. The order for the closure of the radio station is misguided and unjustifiable.

? While bandits and insurgents are ravaging the Niger state through killings and massive displacements of rural communities, with both the federal government and Niger state failing to protect lives, pointing accusing fingers at a radio station clearly shows a failure of leadership.

?Attacking Badeggi 90.1 FM is part of a wider pattern of attempts to create climate of fear across newsrooms in Nigeria and to make it harder for journalists to do their job.

?Governor Bago must immediately withdraw his unlawful order. Under Nigerian laws the governor has no power to order the closure of a radio station. Choosing to bizarrely blame a radio station for the inexcusable security failures of the government is an open attack on media freedom?, it said.

Similarly, Muhammad Alfa Muhammad, the Speaker, Accountability Ambassadors, a Minna-based Civil Society Organization asked the governor to respect the Nigerian constitution that grant citizens the freedom of expression.

?The order by Governor Umaru Bago to shut down Badeggi FM Radio and call for the revocation of its license raises serious constitutional, ethical, and democratic concerns.

?While the need to maintain public peace is legitimate and indeed paramount, the outright closure of a media house without due process sets a dangerous precedent ? one that threatens press freedom, chills civic space, and undermines Section 39 of the 1999 Constitution which guarantees freedom of expression and the press.

?The proper recourse, if indeed the station has erred in professionalism or engaged in incitement, should be a formal complaint lodged with the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC), the lawful regulatory body mandated to investigate and sanction media houses. Anything outside that is executive overreach.

?Moreover, ordering the profiling of a private citizen ? simply for owning a media platform critical of government ? smacks of intolerance and an attempt to stifle dissent. In a democracy, criticism of the government, however harsh, is not only expected but essential. It is what separates constitutional rule from autocracy.

On his Facebook post, Yahaya Adam Idrees, a close ally of the governor said, ?The Nigerian Constitution ensures freedom of speech under Section 39, stipulating that every individual has the right to freedom of expression, encompassing the liberty to hold opinions and receive information without interference, a principle also acknowledged in various international human rights frameworks. In light of this, I propose that the governor?s order be reevaluated, as restricting media freedom should not be encouraged?. (Weekend Trust)

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