A Kaduna-based hotelier, Mr. Victor Balogun, who owns De Jay’s Guest Inn in Ungwan Boro, has been dragged before an Upper Customary Court sitting in Television Settlement, Kaduna, on allegations of criminal intimidation of a journalist.
Balogun was arraigned on Monday, August 18, 2025, following a First Information Report (FIR) filed by the Sabon Tasha Divisional Police Headquarters.
The FIR, signed by Inspector Bulus Alamu, stated that Balogun allegedly threatened a journalist, Mr. Idibia Ude Gabriel, over a published report on a security raid at his hotel.
According to the police document, Gabriel reported that Balogun called him on the phone and issued threats, insisting that the journalist must retract his story and “redeem the image” of the hotel or face dire consequences.
“He told me I would see what he could do and that he could be dangerous,” Gabriel was quoted as saying in the FIR.
The disputed report, published on June 26, 2025, detailed how security operatives, suspected to be members of a Special Joint Task Force, stormed several hotels in Kaduna, including De Jay’s Guest Inn, arresting dozens of suspected drug users, internet fraudsters, and other alleged criminals.
Titled ‘Kaduna: Security Operatives Raid Hotels, Arrest Dozens of Suspects’, the report recounted how operatives in convoys forced their way into the guest inn through a small gate around 8 p.m., arresting suspects and allegedly molesting some hotel staff who resisted.
Eyewitnesses cited in the story also alleged that drugs were recovered from some suspects, while the guest room of a regular lodger, identified only as Jessy, was forcibly entered after he refused to open his door.
The journalist said Balogun’s threats came after the publication gained further traction when other online outlets lifted and republished the report.
Balogun, however, now faces charges of criminal intimidation in connection with his alleged threats to silence a journalist over the report.
