Angry Youth Attack, Attempt to Drown Journalist

On September 23, 2022, an angry mob lynched and almost drowned  Abubakar, who was in Ganuwar Kuka, a community close to Hadejia in Jigawa state, to report the level of devastation caused by floods.

Tahir reported that the youth brutally assaulted him and repeatedly forced his head into the water despite his efforts to display his press card. The journalist was injured, and his mobile phone was destroyed in the attack.

“I was shouting that I am a journalist and showing them my identity card but all to no avail. They were beating and hitting me with sticks, my mobile phones fell to the ground too. As I tried to stand up, they forced my head into the water, removed it, hit me, and forced it back into the water again.”

According to the journalist, he was saved from the marauding youth, who at a point brandished machetes and other offensive weapons by some people who had arrived at the scene.

Tahir was subsequently taken to the head of the community and provided with new clothes before receiving treatment at the Hadejia General Hospital.

Community members are said to be angry with the government over neglect as perennial floods wreak havoc in their community. The journalist later reported the incident to the police.