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Amnesty International has condemned the detention of public affairs analyst, Dr. Bashir Kurfi, describing it as “arbitrary” and an attack on freedom of expression.
In a press release issued on Wednesday, the human rights organisation said Kurfi was detained by the Katsina State Police Command on Tuesday, July 7, after honouring an invitation over a separate matter.
“Yesterday Tuesday 7 July 2026, Dr. Bashir Kurfi honoured an invitation by Katsina state police command, to answer questions on a separate matter, but he was abruptly informed that he will be detained because of a petition against him relating to an interview on banditry on Trust Television,” Amnesty stated.
The organisation alleged that there is “a plot ongoing to keep Dr. Bashir Kurfi in detention indefinitely through manipulation of the police and the local judiciary” and that the plan to “trap him with fabricated charges through a sham trial is an attack on freedom of expression.”
Amnesty said the Katsina State Government was punishing Kurfi for questioning its handling of banditry in the state.
“Clearly, Katsina state government is keenly working to punish him for asking questions regarding Katsina state government’s handling of banditry. Instead of investigating the allegations Dr. Kurfi raised, in the interest of the public, the state government had resorted to outright repression,” it said.
Kurfi, who is the Convener of the Katsina Security Community Initiative, had alleged in a Trust TV interv on June 24, he alleged that the state government sponsored some bandit leaders to the 2026 Hajj pilgrimage.
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Amnesty said Kurfi’s detention reflects a wider pattern of repression in Katsina.
“This brazen attempt to silence Dr. Bashir Kurfi is aimed at intimidating people to prevent public scrutiny of government’s woeful handling of the rampant banditry that had claimed hundreds of lives and forced thousands of people to desert their villages across Katsina state,” the group said.
“No one should be punished for criticising government or probing official dealings. Dr. Bashir Kurfi did not commit any crime and his arrest shows clear abuse of power,” it added.
The organisation further noted that since 2020, it has documented cases of farmers, rights groups and activists being subjected to intimidation, arrest and torture “for speaking out against the attacks by bandits or asking government to help protect the people.”
Meanwhile, a Chief Magistrates’ Court in Katsina on Wednesday remanded Kurfi in police custody after the university lecturer’s arrangement for alleged defamation and injurious falsehood against the state government.
Kurfi pleaded not guilty when the charges were read to him before Chief Magistrate Zaharaddeen Soro.
The matter was adjourned until July 14 for the continuation of the hearing.
