The Kwara State Magistrate Court has granted bail to investigative journalist, Buhari Ahmed Olanrewaju, and an activist, Saidu Musa Tsaragi, who were arrested and detained by the Kwara State Police, at the behest of the State Governor for alleged defamation.
The two were released on July 25, 2025 under bail conditions that included the provision of sureties. The case has since been adjourned to August 15, 2025.
Earlier in July 2025, the two were arrested and held at the State Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of the Kwara State Police Command Headquarters in Ilorin, after they criticised the Government’s response to a protest by some citizens. They were put under arrest upon honouring an invitation by the Police over alleged defamation and cyberstalking complaint filed by the Special Adviser to the State Governor on Social Investment, Sadiq Buhari.
According to reports, the arrests happened a day after thugs, reportedly accompanied by two mobile police officers from the Kwara State Government House, violently dispersed protesters who were demanding accountability and transparency from the state government.
The attack was allegedly led by one Kale Alanamu, with backing from Alhaji Muyideen Aliyu, the Governor’s Senior Special Assistant on Security, and Sadiq Buhari. The thugs not only brutalised the protesters, but also assaulted plainclothes officers from the State Intelligence Department (SID) who were monitoring the demonstration.
Among others, mobile phones belonging to protesters were confiscated, and sensitive videos were forcibly deleted by the police officers accompanying the thugs.
This provoked condemnations by Olanrewaju and Musa Tsaragi, who denounced the excessiveness of the police’s reaction and pointed out that the attack violates the protesters right to peacefully protest.
The very next day after that, the two received an invitation from the Kwara State Police over a complaint by Abubakar Saddiq Buhari, that the two had defamed him. Upon honouring the invitation, the Police placed them under arrest.
According to reports, the Police subsequently sought to remand them, however, the Kwara Magistrate Court did not sit on the matter. The police then went on to secure a remand order directly from the Registrar of the Court, effectively, bypassing judicial processes to keep the two in detention.
The Media Foundation for West Africa welcomes the release on bail of the two victims, but we strongly protest their arrest and detention, which represents an unacceptable abuse of authority by the Kwara State authorities. Nigeria is a democracy and in democracies, criticism of governments is part of the bouquet of rights that citizens are entitled to. We urge the State to unconditionally drop all the charges against Olanrewaju and Tsaragi.
