Kaduna police arrest journalist and her parents over N100 issue

Usman Adamu, the divisional police officer (DPO) of Mararaban Jos in Kaduna State, has arrested a young female journalist, Farida Isiak, and her parents. This happened after a dispute between her mother and a neighbour over the sale of charcoal.

Farida, who is 23 years old and works with Nagarta Radio in Kaduna, was taken into custody around 10 p.m. on 20 October. Family members and neighbours, who did not want to be named, shared this information with PREMIUM TIMES.

Her arrest came a few hours after police detained her parents to bring her to the police station.

The situation started on 19 October when Farida’s mother, who runs a business, sold N400 worth of charcoal to a girl sent by their neighbour. A family member explained, “The girl brought N500, but Mama had no change. Then she asked the girl to take the money and charcoal, telling her to return with the money later.”

According to the family, the girl came back later with money and received a N100 balance. “The next day, the neighbour returned to buy another N400 worth of charcoal. She paid N500 but wanted N200 in change, claiming she had not received her balance the day before. Mama explained that she already gave the girl the N100 change,” the family source said.

The argument heated up, and the neighbour allegedly insulted Farida’s mother before calling her sister, who came from another area. Witnesses said the two women later tried to force their way into Farida’s mother’s house. “They forced their way into her parlour, but the woman threatened to pour hot water on them, making them run away,” a neighbour recounted.

They later returned with police officers, who arrested Farida’s mother. Farida found out about her mother’s arrest while at work. A family member said she took to Facebook to criticize the police over what happened.

Her father, who was in Zaria at the time, called her and said the police wanted her to come to the station and delete her post. “When he returned, he went to the police station to get his wife out but ended up being detained too,” the family member added. They claimed the police used her parents’ detention to catch Farida.

When she arrived, the family member said the police accused her of defaming the police and demanded she delete the Facebook post and apologize to Mr Adamu, the DPO. “She complied with the demands, hoping it would help her parents get released,” the family member continued.

In a surprising turn, the police still detained Farida even after she deleted the post. They threatened to take legal action against her. As of the latest update, she remains in custody and has not been released.

Mansir Hassan, the spokesperson for Kaduna police command, sent the DPO’s contact to PREMIUM TIMES for further inquiry. When approached for a comment, Mr Adamu ended the call, stating a journalist could not speak to him over the phone.