A Nigerian Kaduna based journalist known as Luka Bunniyat has finally been cleared of criminal defamation charges.
The legal battle was as the result of the article the journalist wrote for a U.S. based Epoch Time in November 2021 where he covered the dispute between a Nigerian legislator Sen. Danjuma Laah,who condemned the comments of Samuel Aruwan, who was then, the Kaduna state’s commissioner for describing the violent incident as clash rather than a brutal murder by a militia armed with assault rifles.
He also criticized the Nigerian Government for failing to protect Christians from armed militants.
Following the publication of the article, Aruwan filed a criminal defamation and cyberstalking compliant against the reporter and pressed charges.
The charge leads to the arrest of Buniyat but was relaeased on February 2022 even though the case was still ongoing, until late May 2026 the kaduna Federal High Court ruled the case and found Buniyat not guilty of the aclaimed charges pressed against him.
“It is troubling to me that I was arrested and prosecuted for fulfilling my duty as a journalist, which is to report the facts. It is essential that as Christians face widespread persecution throughout Nigeria, the press is free to quote what public figures are saying and doing about this crisis.
I am grateful that I was released and the charges against me were dismissed. However, my experience shows that there is much work to be done in Nigeria regarding protecting free expression, especially when it comes to speaking out on religious freedom and reporting honestly about what is really happening to Christians in the country.”
— Luka Binniyat
This rulling was the result of lack of reasonable evidence to back up the charges that caused the reporter a five years legal battle. The case was ruled a “no case,” a ruling in favor of the defense without hearing that is to say no need for them to present a defense.
Luka Binniyat did nothing more than accurately quote a Nigerian legislator’s own words. This ruling is a vindication for Luka, but it should also be a wake-up call: accurate reporting on atrocities is not a crime, and journalists covering religious persecution deserve protection, not prosecution,” said Sean Nelson, Senior Counsel for Global Religious Freedom at Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF). “Across Nigeria, Christians are being slaughtered for their faith. Journalists have both a duty and a right to report on these violent, religiously-motivated attacks — without their reporting, the suffering they face would go largely unnoticed.
