On November 26, 2023, Bello Mohammed Abdullahi, a retired major general of the Nigerian army who is also the commissioner of homeland security in Niger state, assaulted journalist Mustapha Batsari, a correspondent of Voice of America (VOA). The journalist approached the commissioner to confirm stories on communal clashes in the Beji area in the north-central region of Nigeria. This was after several attempts by the journalist trying to reach out to the official. The incident was condemned by the Niger state council of the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ), which called on the state governor, Mohammed Umaru Bago, to address the matter.