On October 16, 2023, journalist Gabriel Idibia, who lives in Kaduna, was reportedly forced into hiding after he was falsely accused of religious blasphemy following a video featuring Mosab Hassan Yousef, the son of a prominent figure in Hamas. He shared the video in a WhatsApp group made of journalists in Kaduna state, with the intention of informing debates among the journalists. However, after the video was shared he received threats from both Muslim journalists and non-journalists, and he had to flee the city out of fear for his life. Rising religious intolerance is growing in the northern state of Nigeria. In 2022, a college student in Sokoto state was killed following accusations of blasphemy in a WhatsApp group.
IPI Africa Media Freedom TrackerPhysical attack on journalists, media infrastructure/officesVerbal attack, threats against journalists