A Nigerian journalist was detained for reporting that relief materials were allegedly being diverted from a camp for flood victims, his employers and police said Saturday.
More than 100,000 people were forced to flee thir homes in early September following floods in central Benue state, prompting authorities to set up makeshift camps to distribute relief materials to the victims. Emmanuel Atswen, a reporter with the state-run News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), was arrested on Friday over his September 12 story on a protest at a camp in central Nigeria which accused officials of diverting relief materials.
"The reporter was arrested over an alleged defamation of character and falsehood by a commissioner involved in the relief efforts," state police spokesman Moses Yamu told AFP.