“Press Freedom Under Siege: Niger State Governor Orders Shutdown of Badeggi FM Radio”

The directive issued by Governor Mohammed Umaru Bago of Niger State to shut down Badeggi FM Radio, Minna, has sparked a wave of condemnation from media professionals, civil society groups, and human rights organisations, who describe the action as an assault on press freedom.

Governor Bago had ordered the State Commissioner of Police and the Commissioner for Homeland Security, Brigadier General Bello Abdullahi Mohammed (Rtd), to shut down the station, revoke its broadcasting licence, and profile its owner. The directive was issued during the expanded Niger State All Progressives Congress (APC) Caucus meeting held at the Government House, Minna.

According to Bologi Ibrahim, the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, the order followed accusations that the radio station was “inciting the public against the government” and “promoting violence.”

Reacting to the directive, Abubakar Shuaib, Director of Operations at Badeggi FM, urged the governor to follow due process by submitting complaints to the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC).

“The right thing to do is to write to the NBC for investigation. NBC monitors all our programmes and holds us accountable to broadcasting codes. We cannot do anything to undermine public peace. Our duty is to hold leaders accountable, and that is what we are doing,” Shuaib stated.

The incident has reignited concerns about press freedom under Governor Bago’s administration. Previous cases involving journalists being harassed by state agents were cited. In November 2023, Brig. Gen. Bello Abdullahi Mohammed (Rtd), then Commissioner for Homeland Security, allegedly assaulted a Voice of America reporter, Mustapha Nasiru Batsari, at the Government House, Minna, when approached for comment on a Fulani-Gbagyi clash in Bosso LGA.

Batsari said the commissioner hurled abuses at him and attempted to seize his midget, threatening his life in the process. “It took the intervention of others around to calm the situation,” he recounted.

In January 2025, Yakubu Mustapha Bina, a state correspondent for People’s Daily Newspaper and Chairman of the Correspondents’ Chapel of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), was detained for hours by the Department of State Services (DSS). His phones were seized for three days following a report on banditry and the sharing of an article critical of the Special Adviser to the Governor on Print Media, Aisha Wakaso.

Condemnation has poured in from multiple quarters, including Amnesty International, which described the shutdown order as “repressive, unlawful, and intolerant of critical voices.”

“Governor Bago’s reckless order that the licence of Badeggi FM be revoked clearly shows abuse of power. Attacking the station instead of addressing security failures reflects a failure of leadership,” Amnesty International said in a statement. “This is part of a wider pattern of intimidation against independent media.”

The Accountability Ambassadors, a Minna-based civil society organisation, also condemned the action. Its Speaker, Muhammad Alfa Muhammad, said the governor’s order sets a dangerous precedent.

“Even if there are professional breaches, due process demands a formal petition to the NBC. Anything outside that is executive overreach. Ordering the profiling of a private citizen for owning a media platform critical of the government smacks of intolerance,” he said.

Quoting Section 39 of the Nigerian Constitution, which guarantees freedom of expression and the press, Muhammad added, “Criticism of the government, however harsh, is essential in a democracy. It is what separates constitutional rule from autocracy.”

Yahaya Adam Idrees, a known ally of Governor Bago, also weighed in via Facebook, urging a reevaluation of the order. “Freedom of speech is constitutionally protected. Restricting media freedom should not be encouraged,” he wrote.