On August 19, 2025, two men who identified themselves as police officers, detained Innocent Godiya, publisher of the Facebook-based Adamawa Gist outlet, in Yola, capital of Nigeria’s northeastern Adamawa state.
The men, who told Godiya they were from Jimeta police station, took the journalist in an unmarked, white Toyota truck to a court in Jimeta, where he was accused of spreading false information online about the nearby Demsa Local Government Area, according to Harrison Hamson Dingoli, founder of the Adamawa -based Citizens for Transparent Governance-Numan advocacy group, of which Godiya is also a member.
The court did not charge Godiya or order him detained, but the men took the journalist to prison in Jimeta, Dingoli said.
The case was in relation to Godiya’s post criticizing the governance of Demsa local council chair Akham Jalo, according to rights groups, which campaigned for his release.
On August 22, a judge ordered Godiya be freed on bail.
Dingoli told CPJ that the court initially ordered Godiya to produce one person as a surety with a bond of 500,000 naira (US$334) as condition for his release, but then let him go if he promised not to comment publicly on the case while it remained in court.
On September 3, Godiya was due back in court but prosecutors told the journalist’s defense team that they were ready for an out-of-court settlement, according to Godiya’s lawyer, David Gibson, and Dingoli.
Gibson told CPJ in early September that prosecutors did not provide details of any complaint or charges against Godiya.
Adamawa police spokesman Suleiman Yahaya Nguroje told CPJ that he was unaware of the journalist’s arrest.
On September 2, Jalo declined to discuss the case with CPJ over the phone.