Police arrest student activist days after criticising Niger governor over insecurity, propaganda

The police have arrested Isah Mokwa, a student activist at Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida University (IBBU) in Lapai, Niger State.

Mr Mokwa, a vocal critic of Governor Umar Bago, was arrested a week after he posted on Facebook, accusing Mr Bago of “lies.”

The student activist, who is also a Master’s student at IBBU, advised the governor to curtail banditry in the northern senatorial district of the Niger State instead of using television to justify his “lies.”

In the post, Mr Mokwa called Mr Bago “Governor Amunike,” a name adopted by popular comedian Kevin Chinedu to depict corrupt Nigerian governors.

Accusing the governor of killing IBB University by not adequately funding it, Mr Mokwa also advised him to address the plight of pensioners and Mokwa flood victims, among others.

The student activist extolled the governor’s strides in road infrastructure in Minna, but raised concerns that the projects were delayed.

In recent months, the governor has been criticised publicly after he appeared on Arise TV and claimed that there is no hardship in Niger State.

Last week, the governor also said he built a farm estate where he pays a graduate assistant N500,000 monthly salary, a claim that residents found contrasting to the economic reality in the state.

Police confirm Mr Mokwa’s arrest

The Niger State Police Command confirmed his arrest, saying Mr Mokwa was picked up following a criminal complaint filed against him.

“The Niger State Police Command has received a formal criminal complaint against one Abubakar Isah Mokwa, a 29-year-old indigene of Mokwa and a postgraduate student of Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida University, Lapai (IBBUL),” the police spokesperson in Niger State, Wasiu Abiodun, told journalists in Minna.

Mr Abiodun said the Lapai Division arrested him after receiving the cybercrime complaint.

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“Following the report, the suspect was invited and subsequently arrested by operatives of the Lapai Division on October 23, 2025, at about 11:00 p.m.,” he said. “He has since been transferred to the State Police Command Headquarters in Minna for further investigation in connection with the allegations.”

“The suspect is currently in police custody, and further developments on the investigation will be communicated to the public in due course,” Mr Abiodun added.

Mr Mokwa’s colleagues told PREMIUM TIMES that two officers from the Lapai Division initially went to his residence but could not find him at home.

“He was later arrested and taken to the divisional police station in the middle of the night on Thursday,” one of his associates said.