“Despite the threats, I will not stop. For the sake of Christ Jesus, I will continue reporting until death. That’s the legacy I want to leave behind.” – Luka Binniyat
Luka Binniyat, 58, is a veteran journalist known for his courageous coverage of the massacres of Christians in southern Kaduna, part of Nigeria’s Middle Belt. He has been imprisoned three times on what many believe to be trumped-up charges under the administration of Mallam Nasir el-Rufai, the Governor of Kaduna State, from 2015 to 2017. His story mirrors that of many other Christian journalists and activists in Nigeria who have faced threats, harassment, and arrests for reporting on the persecution of Christians in the country.
While Amnesty International declared other human rights defenders like Omoyele Sowore, Olawale Bakare, and Agba Jalingo “prisoners of conscience” in 2019 for their activism, Binniyat and others who focus on Christian persecution have been overlooked, according to findings by theworshipway,com
Binniyat’s ordeal began in 2017 when he was arrested and detained for reporting on the persecution of Christians. He has been held in some of the most notorious police cells in Kaduna State, facing a series of six different judges across two cases that have dragged on from 2017 to the present day. His crime, he says, was exposing the truth.
“I had read much about the horrific and terrifying conditions of Nigeria’s prisons, and I’d always shuddered at the thought of being an inmate,” Binniyat told an ICC staffer. “But on February 6, 2024, the steel gates of Kaduna Central Prison admitted me as an inmate to experience something that would become a permanent part of my life.“
Binniyat was thrust into a dark, foul-smelling cell crammed with 85 men despite it being designed to hold just 20 inmates. “The cell, which was built for 20 inmates with a row of double-deck beds, had 85 of us, and only two sets of double-deck beds were meant for the bosses of the dingy cell,” he recalled. The space reeked of feces and urine, infested with cockroaches and bedbugs. “The air was thick with cigarette smoke and fumes from marijuana, yet the inmates seemed accustomed to it,” he added.
Refusing to eat the “supper” of mashed beans served in filthy containers, Binniyat struggled to find a place to sleep on the cell’s damp, grimy floor. “I found myself in a sitting position with hardly enough space to stretch my legs. Eventually, I slept off,” he recounted.
The following day, he was brought before Chief Magistrate Emmanuel Musa of Magistrate Court 1 in Kaduna, who had ordered his remand. Binniyat was accused of writing falsehoods to incite violence, a charge he denies. The article in question was published in Vanguard newspaper, where he had worked for 15 years, yet the newspaper and its editors were not included in the lawsuit.
The Chief Magistrate granted him bail on February 6, 2017, but he was unable to meet the conditions and remained in prison. “That was my first introduction to prison conditions,” said Binniyat, who had previously reported on how Governor el-Rufai allegedly tracked Fulani armed men responsible for attacks on Christians in Southern Kaduna to other African countries and paid them what he termed as “compensation.”
Binniyat met his bail conditions the next morning and was released. However, he was re-arrested in August 2017 in the same case and spent 93 days in prison before being granted another bail. During this time, he was nursing a knee injury. In 2021, he was arrested again on the orders of Kaduna State’s Commissioner of Internal Security, Mr. Samuel Aruwan, for quoting a senator who accused Aruwan of downplaying the massacre of Christians in Southern Kaduna as mere “herders/farmers clashes” rather than genocide.
“I spent another 96 days in Kaduna prison, suffering greatly due to crippling arthritis and high blood pressure,” he said. Binniyat was eventually released on bail on January 5, 2022, just days after his village, Zamandabo in Zangon Kataf county, Southern Kaduna, was attacked and burned down, resulting in the deaths of 12 people, including his cousin and beloved aunt.
Despite his repeated arrests and the ongoing legal battles, Binniyat remains committed to his cause. After resigning from Vanguard without any benefits, he continued his work as a freelance journalist, reporting on the atrocities committed by armed Fulani herdsmen against Christian communities in Nigeria’s Middle Belt. He also became the national spokesperson of the Southern Kaduna People’s Union (SOKAPU), representing 67 ethnic Christian groups with a population of approximately 5 million.
“Reporting the persecution of Christians in Nigeria has become an obsession and calling for me,” said Binniyat, who now contributes to Truth Nigerian. “Despite the threats, I will not stop. For the sake of Christ Jesus, I will continue reporting until death. That’s the legacy I want to leave behind.”
“Luka Binniyat’s story is a testament to the courage and resilience of those who stand against injustice despite facing dire consequences. It also highlights the ongoing challenges for journalists and activists in Nigeria, particularly those who dare to speak out against the persecution of Christians,” said an ICC Staffer.
