CSO Alleges Authoritarianism in Niger, Demands Gov Bago’s Immediate Reopening of Radio Station

Linus Aleke in Abuja 

A civil society organisation operating under the umbrella of Global Rights, Nigeria, has alleged that the Niger State Government under Governor Umar Bago is gradually descending into full-blown authoritarianism, with recorded sequence of high-handedness, rights violations, and a brutal assault on free speech.

The group noted the recent shutting down of a radio station, Badeggi FM, for daring to perform its sacred duty of keeping the public up to date on happenings in the state. 

Global Rights, while decrying the illegal and undemocratic shutdown of Badeggi FM by the Governor Bago, demanded the immediate reversal of the order closing the station.

A statement by the Executive Director of Global Rights, Abiodun Baiyewu, stated that this latest assault on press freedom was not only unconstitutional but also authoritarian. 

She stressed that the governor’s claim that the station was “promoting violence and incitement” was a failed justification that has no basis in law and only served to disguise what was clearly a desperate move to suppress independent journalism and stifle dissent. 

“It is part of a well-documented and escalating pattern of repressive actions against journalists and civic actors in Niger State, all of which trace directly back to the governor’s desk,” Baiyewu added.

Baiyewu pointed out that what civil societies were witnessing in the state was a deliberate construction of a climate of fear under a governor who increasingly governs not through inclusion or dialogue but through intimidation and silencing. 

According to her, “just days before Badeggi FM was shut down, Comrade Emmanuel Umar, Commissioner for Internal Security and Publisher of the Newsline Newspaper, reportedly withheld journalists’ salaries after they covered a protest at the Emir’s palace in Minna. His justification? The coverage embarrassed the government.

“This kind of retaliatory punishment, exercised by someone so close to the governor, sends a clear message to journalists across the state: Report the truth and suffer the consequences. We have also seen the Director-General of the state’s Radio Station warn the Nigerian Union of Journalists to choose between journalism and government loyalty. That is not a democratic government speaking. That is an administration deeply threatened by free thought and investigative reporting.

 “All of this is happening under Governor Bago’s leadership, and it is no coincidence. His record makes the pattern unmistakable: In April 2025, he issued a statewide directive ordering the arrest of any youth wearing dreadlocks.

“This outrageous overreach violated personal freedoms and invited indiscriminate profiling and abuse by law enforcement. This was not only a state-ordered assault—it was an abuse of power that signalled zero tolerance for dissent.

“In February 2024, peaceful protesters in Minna, demonstrating against hunger and economic hardship, were violently dispersed. Instead of listening to his people, Governor Bago deployed the machinery of the state to silence them. These are not the actions of a democrat. These are the actions of a man increasingly ruling like a military administrator, not an elected governor in a constitutional democracy.”