Abubakar Isah Mokwa, a postgraduate student at Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida University (IBBUL), Lapai, has been arrested after making online criticisms of Governor Mohammed Umaru Bago of Niger State.
Mokwa, aged 29 and a member of the Department of Agricultural Economy and Extension, was arrested late on 23 October 2025 at an off-campus lodge in Lapai and transferred to the Niger State Police Command Headquarters in Minna for further investigation.
According to SP Wasiu Abiodun, spokesperson for the Niger State Police Command, the arrest followed a complaint of “cyber bullying, cyber stalking and other cyber-related crimes.”
He said, “The Niger State Police Command received a criminal complaint bordering on cyber bullying, cyber stalking, and other cybercrime-related offences against one Abubakar Isah Mokwa…
“Hence, he was invited and arrested by the Lapai Div on 23rd October, 2025, at about 11 pm and transferred to the State Police Command Headquarters, Minna, for further investigation in respect of the criminal complaint. However, the suspect is in custody, and further development will be made public.”
Meanwhile, prior to his detention, Mokwa raised alarms online that police officers had been at his lodge asking for him. He posted that he feared being “bundled” by the authorities.
He had also used Facebook to criticise the administration of Governor Bago. In one post he addressed the governor as “Governor Amunike” (a mocking nickname) and listed grievances such as bandit attacks, unpaid pensions, issues with scholarship schemes, university infrastructure neglect, delays in flood-relief efforts, and hospital service concerns.
Human rights and media-freedom observers have raised similar concerns about media freedom under Governor Bago.
In August 2025, the International Press Institute (IPI) Nigeria condemned the suspension of Badegi 90.1 FM, a radio station in Minna, describing it as “yet another crackdown on freedom of expression and media freedom by the current administration in Niger State under Governor Bago.”
IPI Nigeria gave the Governor a 48-hour ultimatum to reverse the suspension.
The organisation also referred to earlier allegations including the detention for three days of Yakubu Mustapha, the Niger State correspondent for Peoples Daily and NUJ chapel chairman in January 2025, allegedly over material critical of the governor’s media adviser, and an alleged assault on Mustapha Nasiru Batsari, the Voice of America correspondent in Niger State, by a state government commissioner in November 2023.
Mokwa remains in police custody, and the investigation is ongoing.
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