On June 26, 2025, a hotelier named Mr Victor Balogun made a phone call to Mr Idibia Achadu Gabriel, a journalist based in Kaduna, North-west Nigeria, and threatened him for publishing a story of a raid carried out in his hotel by security operatives attached to the Kaduna State Special Task Force.
Mr Gabriel reported the invasion of the hotel known as De Jays Guest Inn, located in Ungwan Boro community, in a news story titled: “Kaduna: Security Operatives Raid Hotels, Arrest Dozens of Suspects,” which was widely republished in other news outlets. The story reported the coordinated raids on hotels in Kaduna State by security operatives who arrested dozens of crime suspects.
The journalist said Mr Balogun called him, threatening him with severe consequences if he did not retract the story. He said the hotelier also informed him that he had gone to the office of the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ) Kaduna State Council to vent his anger and threatened that he “can be very dangerous and can do anything if the said story is not taken down,” even after he was told the journalist witnessed the raid and could not reach him immediately for his comments.
The hotelier reportedly told the journalist, “Mr Idibia, thank you, I saw the news report you did in Opera news online, you mention my hotel only. I was there, I heard you talk to one of the police security. You’ve to do the other positive side if you can’t retract it, or I’ll deal with you. You know I can be dangerous.”
