On September 18, 2019, officers of the Nigerian Customs Service (NCS) assaulted Lamin Hassan, a reporter with Express Radio, at Gwammaja quarters, in the Dala Local Government Area of Kano State while the journalist was interviewing victims of their raids.
Lamin disclosed that following his assignment to cover the raid, he went and while there, the Customs officers were raiding a shopping mall selling Palm-date and Zam-Zam Water, items which the officers claimed were contraband. While the raid was going on, he began interviewing some people around with regards to the incessant harassment. When the officers discovered what he was doing, they went to him and began assaulting him.
In his words: “I was beaten with a gun on my chest by one custom operative just because I’m discharging my lawful duty,”
When contacted about the assault on the journalist, Mr. Isa Danbaba, the Nigerian Customs Service, Kano/Jigawa Command, Spokesman confirmed the incident but claimed that Customs personnel said Lamin was taking pictures while they were raiding the area to confiscate suspected smuggled goods. He added that when asked to identify himself, Lamin only claimed he was a journalist but did not identify himself with an identification card and that it was in the course of trying to seize the phone being used to take the pictures that they had a scuffle.
