Journalist who exposed Gov Ganduje’s ‘bribe’ video, flees to the UK

A Nigerian journalist, Jaafar Jaafar, has fled the country to the United Kingdom over alleged threats to his life, PremiumTimes is reporting.

Mr Jaafar, who spoke with PREMIUM TIMES in a telephone interview on Sunday, said he has relocated with his family and will not be returning to the country ‘until the coast is clear.’ The newspaper publisher, who was recently invited by the police over alleged defamation of the police chief’s character, said he will only return to Nigeria when the government can guarantee his safety.

Mr Jaafar’s ordeals started about a month after Kano State Governor Abdullahi Ganduje revealed that those behind a video of him collecting bribe would be brought to shame.

Recall that Mr Jaafar’s Daily Nigerian newspaper had in October 2018, published a video that showed Mr Ganduje collecting money in dollars from a government contractor. In the video, the governor was seen collecting the dollars before rolling them into his white dress, called “babanriga,” in one of a series of questionable deals allegedly struck over a span of several months.

On a BBC Hausa programme, ‘Afada Acika’, the governor in March this year insisted the video was manipulated. Mr Jaafar has insisted the video is authentic and independent checks including one by PREMIUM TIMES showed the original video was not doctored.

The Nigeria Police Force, last month wrote to Mr Jaafar inviting him for questioning. However, Mr Jaafar, went into hiding saying he was scared for his life.

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