Chibok girls protest: Police withdraw case against journalist

The Nasarawa State Police Command on Thursday withdrew a case it had instituted against a correspondent of Daily Trust newspapers, Hir Joseph.
Joseph was on May 13 arraigned in a Lafia Magistrates’ Court II in Nasarawa State for allegedly anchoring a news report where he alleged that some women police in the command participated in the #BringBackOurGirls protest.
The protest was organised by various women organisations in Lafia, the state capital, following the abduction of the over 200 schoolgirls on April 14 in Chibok, Borno State.
Maidawa Adam, a Superintendent of Police, announced the withdrawal of the suit at the resumed hearing of the case.
Adam told the court that he had been directed by the Commissioner of Police in the state, Ibrahim Idris, to withdraw the case.
He said that the command had realised the need to sustain the cordial working relationship between the Nigerian Police Force and the media, being the fourth estate of the realm, and urged the magistrate to grant the application.
Counsel to the accused, Mohammed Danjuma, said that the withdrawal of the suit demonstrated the maturity of the police in the state.
“The withdrawal is in conformity with the provisions of the constitution for the freedom of expression and the freedom of the press,” Danjuma said
The magistrate, Yakubu Egga, granted the application.
Meanwhile, the state Chairman of the Nigeria Union of Journalists, Dan Yakubu, who was in court, hailed the decision of the police to withdraw the case against the journalist.
Yakubu commended the commissioner of police in the state for his maturity and promised that journalists covering the state would continue to support the police through objective and balance reportage of activities of the command.