Three human rights organisations – Christian Solidarity International (CSI), Humanitarian Aid Relief Trust (HART), and the International Organisation for Peacebuilding and Social Justice (PSJ) - have released a new joint report about the situation in Nigeria’s Middle Belt.
The report, entitled “Breaking Point in Central Nigeria? Terror and Mass Displacement in the Middle Belt,” was based on a joint visit to Nigeria, led by Baroness Caroline Cox, in late February-early March of this year.
On 3 February, Luka Binniyat was finally released from detention, a week after he received bail.
On 31 January, Nigeria Report published the article below, explaining the difficult bail conditions imposed on Binniyat by the federal court handling his case.
Caroline Cox, an independent member of the House of Lords, and Dr. John Eibner, the president of Christian Solidarity International, have written an open letter to Luka Binniyat, the Christian journalist imprisoned for his coverage of atrocities against Christians in Nigeria's southern Kaduna State. "Thank you for standing so boldly in solidarity with the victims of atrocity crimes," they wrote. "You are an inspiration. We hope and pray that we will be able to meet you soon in freedom."
Luka Binniyat, a journalist and human rights activist from southern Kaduna State in Nigeria, has been jailed since 4 November for his reporting on Fulani violence against Christians in the state. His detention has caused an outcry from defenders of freedom of the press across Nigeria and beyond.
Today, 6 December, a bail hearing had been scheduled for Luka Binniyat, the Christian journalist and human rights activist detained last month after reporting on Fulani militias attacks against Christian communities in Kaduna state. Binniyat’s lawyers came to plead his case at the Magistrate Court in Barnawa. But the judge was nowhere to be found. Binniyat has been imprisoned since 4 November.