A journalist with Iran Press News Agency, Nasir Hassan Yalwa, has thanked The Eagle Online and other media organisations and individuals who stood by him during his arrest by operatives of the Nigeria Police Force.
He spoke in a statement he issued on Monday following his arrest while covering a Maulud procession in Abuja on September 10, 2025.
Yalwa wrote in the article, titled: “Appreciation.”
First and foremost, I am very grateful to the Almighty Allah for his bestowing in me the fortitude to bear this trial. It’s Allah’s bountiful mercy who spared my life to see the light of the day after spending five days in detention as I was locked up alongside very dangerous criminals, including bandits, kidnappers, murderers to mention just a few.
A special thank goes to the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), especially our national President, Comrade Alhassan Yahaya Abdul, who singlehandedly together with my boss, Alhaji Danjuma Abdullahi of Press TV, kept hustling around until they secured my release. I am very grateful for this brotherly solidarity.
I will not forget the radical human rights activist, Mr. Omoyele Sowore who also sent his representative to facilitate my release. Mr. Sowore also sent me a message of courage and fortitude, saying he wanted to attend the court session but couldn’t make it due to activities far beyond his control.
I have no words to thank my own brothers, Comrade Yahaya M Abdullahi and Jamilu Musa, who supported me right from the moment of my arrest without rest until I regained my freedom. I have no words to express my gratitude to them. I won’t forget this brotherly solidarity, I pray to Allah the Almighty to grant me the opportunity to return the favour one way or another.
Moreover, my words of gratitude go to several media outlets who covered my arrest and their voices also played a key role in my freedom. These outlets include Sahara Reporters, African Journalists Against Genocide (AJAG), Daily Struggle Newspapers Neptune Prime English Almizan Hausa, Jaridar Alheri Bauchi @Closing Spaces Database, Wazobia Reporters, The Eagle Online, The Niche, anatare news, my medium, Iran Press News Agency, and many other outlets I will not be able to mention. My special gratitudes also to our beloved human rights activist, Adeyanju Deji, Alhaji Shu’aibu Usman Leman, former National Secretary, NUJ, malam Ibrahim Musa Editor in-Chief of Almizan Newspaper, Ammar Muhammad Rajab, Editor in-Chief and publisher of Daily Struggles Newspaper, my beloved sister Ireti B. Yusuf, Convener, African Journalists Against Genocide (AJAG) all for using their precious voices to demand for my freedom.
The Truth Behind My Unlawful Arrest
On 10th September, Muslims from Shia and Tijjaniyya communities staged a Maulud celebration here in Abuja where the procession began at the Appo close to the Resettlement axis. People in the procession were praising the holy Prophet Muhammad (S) and at the same time waving flags of Palestine to express solidarity with Gaza. The Maulud celebration attracted a huge number of people, and me as a reporter stood aside together with my fellow journalists to cover the development as we always do.
After the completion of the Maulud procession peacefully at Appo roundabout, and most of the people had already left after closing prayers, a convoy of heavily armed police officers, as if they were going to Zamfara forest to fight Bello Turji, stormed the area and started firing teargas and beating people, and in the melee that ensued, many people including bystanders got caught and injured.
I took a refuge and recorded how people were being beaten with brutal force. Shortly after, I wanted to board a tax to return to my residence, but the police quickly approached me menacingly as I was holding on to my equipment as well as my ID.
“Who are you,” one officer shouted at me. I told them I was a journalist, and they requested to see my ID card which I promptly showed them. They asked me to enter their vehicle, and asked, “for what reason? When has journalism become a crime?”
They insisted that I entered the vehicle. Inside the van, I tried reaching out to my colleague, Ochiaka, the former Secretary of Abuja NUJ, but a police officer tried to wrestle control of the phone while speaking with him and they overpowered me and seized the phone.
They carried me together with 12 other people to Area Command. It was there I came to understand that they arrested a tea seller (mai shayi), Keke Napep driver, Okada, Tailor and POS operator who were all arrested at work close to Appo Fish Market. We were inhumanely paraded as suspected criminals. There was not any iota of evidence to suggest I committed any criminal offence. Despite my ID card, they carried us to the abattoir, former Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) where we were locked up for two days. It was on Friday that they took us to the Magistrate Court at Wuse Zone 6, and unfortunately the judge was absent which meant that we had to be taken back and locked up until Monday.
We were presented to the court on Monday by the police prosecutor who charged us with unlawful assembly and violence. We pleaded not guilty. The police prosecutor singled out seven of us for discharge, saying that their investigation revealed that they’re Keke NAPEP commercial riders, leaving six of us behind. We pleaded not guilty. The judge adjourned the case to 30th September, 2025. It was then that my lawyer asked for my bail and the judge granted the request.
This is the brief story of my arrest, which turned out to be a blessing in disguise. Despite being told in advance by prominent journalists such as Aliyu Saleh, Malam Musa C.A and Khalid Idris Doya among others who encountered similar incidents while doing their job, I couldn’t understand how the thing is until I saw it practically on me.
As I rest my pen, I want to use this opportunity to thank my brothers and sisters both in faith and in humanity as well as well-wishers who expressed their support and prayed for me.
May God reward you in kind.
Gracias
Nasir Hassan Yalwa.
