Mr Usman Haruna, the Editor-in-Chief of NupekoTV in Lafiaji, Kwara State, has raised an alarm over threats to his life and those of his family members after he reportedly received a text message, which he said threatened that he and his family could be subjected to “very brutal things.”
According to media reports, Mr Haruna said he received the message at about 8:35 p.m. on August 23, 2026, while he was in Ilorin. One of the SMS messages sent to the editor reads, “Good day sir with honor sir I will love to give this grace sir with respect cause you are not aware of what is going on over 4 days nw I have make enough investigation about you and your family Mr Haruna Usman.”
The sender of the text informed Mr Haruna that his associates had been tracking him and that two unidentified men had provided details about him for the purpose of carrying out attacks against him and his family. The text claims, “The issue is that, there are 2 men who bring my boys ur details for me to do u and ur family very brutal things they want u down and ur family to be hurt.”
In yet another SMS message, the sender urged the editor to call him, warning him not to “play smart.” The message reads: “I dont want u to play smart with me Mr Haruna call me it biggy from Temidire.” Mr Haruna said he did not respond to the message.
Mr Haruna said he had initially treated the messages as possibly random but became concerned because of the nature of his journalism. He said NupekoTV regularly reports kidnapping, banditry, governance, and development issues, adding that some people, including community leaders and other individuals who, according to him, were unhappy with some of the station’s reports, had previously pressured him to withdraw reports.
According to Mr Haruna, “Some individuals will call us, and then there are instances where we are being instructed to take down the kind of reports that we do. Though we refused.”
He said he could not establish who was behind the latest threat; according to him, “I felt like it could just be a random stuff, but on the other hand, we felt we should not take it lightly.” He added that the SMS messages he received contained information about his family and where they lived, and that this has increased his concern about the sender’s claim that he and his family were being monitored.
