Farida Isiak: Amnesty Accuses Police Of Weaponising Courts Against Journalist
Amnesty International has accused the police of weaponising the judicial system to punish journalist Farida Isiak over a social media post, demanding that Nigerian authorities drop the charges against her and end her…
Farida Isiak, a journalist with Nagarta Radio in Kaduna, has become the latest case in Nigeria's long-running pattern of press freedom disputes involving law enforcement and social media speech. The case stems from a social media post she made that was apparently directed at the police, after which she was arrested and charged. Nigeria's cybercrime and defamation-related laws have frequently been criticised by rights groups and press advocates for being used to intimidate journalists and critics, rather than to address genuine cybersecurity threats, and Isiak's case is being framed by Amnesty International as part of that broader trend.
The coverage shows a clear divide in framing: Daily Trust centres the Kaduna Police Command's defence of its actions, detailing their account of why the arrest was carried out over the social media post. Leadership, meanwhile, foregrounds Amnesty International's condemnation, which accuses police of "weaponising" the courts against Isiak and is demanding that charges be dropped and her ordeal ended. Neither outlet's headline specifies the exact charges filed, the current status of any court proceedings, or when the arrest took place, leaving key procedural details of the case still unclear.