He expressed belief that if he’s deported to Nigeria, he’ll likely be arrested and put behind bars.
Nnamdi Ibezim, a Nigerian journalist and publisher, is facing a serious threat to his freedom and safety.
He has been ordered to leave the United Kingdom within nine days, where he had sought refuge after being targeted by Nigerian authorities, Ibezim announced on his X account on Tuesday.
He expressed belief that if he’s deported to Nigeria, he’ll likely be arrested and put behind bars.
The trouble for Ibezim began in September 2023 when the Nigeria Police Force announced plans to prosecute him for allegedly cyberstalking Babatunde Fashola, the former Minister of Works and Housing. As the founder of Reportera News, an independent news channel launched in April 2022, Ibezim has avowed commitment to promoting unbiased reporting and cleansing the Nigerian and African media space.
However, his situation highlights the risks journalists face in the country.
In September 2023, the police force said it had concluded arrangements to arraign Nnamdi Emmanuel Ibezim for cyberstalking the former Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola.
Announcing the arraignment plans, in a statement on September 6, 2023, the Force Public Relations Officer ACP Olumuyiwa Adejobi, said Ibezim would be arraigned once the court resumed following a report from Priory Terrace Solicitors on behalf of Fashola.
“Police Investigators from the Force Intelligence Bureau carried out intensive investigations into the complaint and discovered that the suspect made a false publication on his handle – @ReporteraNews on the social media platform ‘X’, formerly known as Twitter on Saturday 5th August, 2023,” Adejobi said.
He added that Ibezim alleged that the complainant, Fashola, was involved in the drafting of a controversial verdict in the ongoing Presidential Election Petition Tribunal (PEРТ).
Ibezim also said the military had been deployed to Fashola’s residence to restrict movement, thereby intending to cast aspersion on the person of the former minister.
However, Ibezim who took to his X account @IruefiNG on Tuesday, decried many battles he had fought in the past year, stating that he had decided not to subject himself and loved ones to such an emotional torture anymore.
He shared an experience where he fell victim to a scam and lost his entire savings to a Nigerian whom he said had trusted to procure and process documents for him and his family to live and work in the UK.
Ibezim, who has reportedly sought financial assistance from friends to weather the storm, wrote: “In exactly 9 days, I’m required to leave the UK where I had fled to after being targeted by Nigerian authorities over News published on my media organization @ReporteraNews in August 2023 for which I and my family were treated very unjustly.
“I have fought many battles in the past year and I have decided I will no longer subject myself and loved ones to this emotional torture anymore.
“One of these battles was falling victim to a scam and losing my entire savings to a Nigerian who I’d trusted to procure & process documents for I and family to live & work in the UK.
“Despite knowing my situation, this fellow went ahead to swindle me knowing well that he would not fulfill the obligation for which the payment was made and has gone since gone AWOL.”
He added, “I sincerely don’t want to be returned to Nigeria because my life will be in jeopardy but at this point I’ll have to leave it all in the hands of God because I have done what I can as a human all to no avail. If it is God’s will that I’ll return to Nigeria, then let it be.
“I want to thank everyone who has supported me in this journey especially @icons_closet, @chiditweets042, @chymaker and @AdenikeAwe1 for the extra efforts they have put in for me behind the scene. I really do not take this for granted and I hope that one way or another I’ll repay you back some day.
“If you don’t hear from me by the end of November, then I may have been deported to Nigeria and most likely arrested by Nigerian authorities.
“Let this therefore serve as an SOS in advance. I’ll still be in touch. Best regards.”
