Amnesty International and a coalition of civil society organizations have condemned the alleged harassment and intimidation of two journalists over a published opinion article.
The Independent Mirror reports that Buhari Abba Rano, an online journal publisher, and Isma’il Auwal, a freelance journalist, were invited by the Kano State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department (CIID) on the alleged orders of Commissioner of Information Ibrahim Waiya.
Isma’il Auwal had written an opinion article titled “Dear Gov. Yusuf, Beware of Kano Information Commissioner Ibrahim Waiya,” published on February 24, 2025, by Kano Times Online Newspaper.
The article questioned why only Rano, the publisher of Kano Times was singled out for police questioning.
Buhari Rano, an editor with Kano Times, was detained for hours on March 24 at the CIID at the Kano Police Command before being released on bail.
Similarly, Isma’il Auwal, the author of the article, was summoned by the police for questioning on March 25 and later released on bail.
Amnesty International and the coalition of civil society organizations, in a statement released on Tuesday, called on the Kano State Commissioner of Police and the Governor of Kano State to ensure that the journalists’ fundamental rights and legal protections are upheld.
