Nigerian radio host defies threats from Boko Haram by staying on air
Still in line with the recently celebrated World Press Freedom Day, we meet Fatima Ibrahim.
She is the outspoken radio host at the Dandal Kura station in Borno State, north-eastern Nigeria. Fatima discusses human rights, land laws and also, the radical Islamic views of militant group Boko Haram in local languages and dialects.
The northeast of Nigeria, sub-Saharan Africa’s biggest energy producer, is the main battleground in its decade-long fight against Boko Haram and fellow Islamist insurgent group Islamic State West Africa Province.
I have a passion for it because the radio, most especially the Dandal Kura radio, is a radio which is for the voice of the Lake Chad basin. Most especially those people that are affected by the insurgency…
The region is also plagued by clashes between farmers and herders in which hundreds have died.
The radio station was started in 2016 and claims to have about 10 million listeners in northern Nigeria, and parts of Chad and Cameroon.
Over the years, the station has received video tapes from the extremists decrying their operations and vowing to behead the women that work there.
Famita says she is undeterred by their threats and has even taken her own safety precautions.
Dandal Kura, once funded by United States and the UK now describes itself as editorially independent.
Fatima and her colleagues are not afraid to talk about insecurity and the many other issues facing their listeners – and more importantly in some cases, give listeners a platform to share the trauma they’ve suffered and current challenges they face.
Source: reuters.com
