UK-based Nigerian blogger, Maureen Badejo, has been arrested by operatives of the Nigeria Police Force following petitions reportedly filed against her by top Nigerian Christian clerics.

Badejo, who runs GIOTV, was taken into custody on Friday in Lagos by detectives from the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) and is currently being interrogated at the Cybercrime Unit in Adekunle, Yaba.

Sources told Sahara Reporters that the arrest was prompted by complaints submitted by the General Overseer of Omega Fire Ministries, Apostle Johnson Suleman and the General Overseer of Mountain of Fire and Miracles Ministries (MFM), Daniel Olukoya.

Although the full details of the allegations remain unclear, sources say they are connected to Badejo’s online publications and social media posts, which reportedly targeted the clerics.

As of press time, the police had not issued an official statement detailing the charges or confirming the legal basis for her continued detention.

In March 2022, the UK High Court of Justice (Queen’s Bench Division) ordered Apostle Suleman to pay £19,601 to Badejo in a defamation suit he had filed against her.

However, in August 2023, Badejo rejected an offer by Suleman to settle the judgment sum in £500 monthly instalments.

According to court records, UK Judge His Honour Judge Lewis, under Claim No. QB-2022-000504, dismissed Suleman’s application and upheld Badejo’s legal costs.

Following the judgment, Nigerians in the diaspora reportedly crowdfunded legal fees to assist Badejo in defending herself.

In December 2023, SaharaReporters detailed how Sunday Bawura Olowoyeye, a former MFM pastor, filed a ₦1 billion lawsuit against Pastor Olukoya for alleged unlawful detention.

Olowoyeye, who joined MFM in 1993, claimed he was detained at FCID Alagbon for 16 days after airing his grievances to Badejo, who later published his story online.

“They neglected me and my family when my wife was critically ill,” Olowoyeye said, alleging that his arrest came after he shared his ordeal with the blogger.

Badejo has conducted interviews with several individuals who have levelled allegations against both Suleman and Olukoya. Many of the claims have not been publicly addressed or refuted by the clerics.

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Survivors of the mass abduction in Kurmin Wali village, Kajuru Local Government Area of Kaduna State, have recounted the hardship they endured while in the kidnapper’s den.

The victims were abducted while attending church servives on January 26. A total of 183 persons were abducted during the attack. Eleven were released earlier and hospitalised, 83 regained freedom days ago, while the remaining 89 were rescued on Wednesday, February 4.

Speaking to newsmen in Kaduna on Thursday, February 5, the victims recounted how they survived on raw flour mixed with water and slept in the open forest for weeks.

One female survivor, who spoke while holding her baby and requested anonymity, said the abductors fed them only four times during their stay in the forest.

“They fed us with raw corn flour just four times. We mixed it with water to have something in our stomach. We slept in the open and were sometimes relieved when the wind blew because it helped keep mosquitoes away.”she said

She added that their phones were seized and they were constantly threatened by the abductors.

“My worst moment was when they flogged my husband and other men. We cried and feared for their lives, but I thank God that we were rescued alive,” she said, expressing gratitude for her freedom.

Another survivor, a male who also requested to speak anonymously, thanked the Kaduna State Government, the military and other security agencies for securing their release.

“We really suffered in captivity, but it is comforting that the government has promised improved security presence, better roads and other infrastructure in our community” he said

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People caught consuming South Korean entertainment in North Korea are facing extreme punishment, including public execution, according to new findings by Amnesty International.

A new Amnesty report says North Korean authorities are executing citizens for watching popular South Korean dramas such as Squid Game, listening to K-pop artists like BTS, or engaging with any foreign media deemed “reactionary”. Even children are reportedly subjected to harsh penalties.

According to testimonies from people who escaped the country, schoolchildren are sometimes forced to witness executions as a warning against consuming banned content. While wealthier families or those with political connections may bribe officials to avoid the harshest penalties, poorer citizens reportedly face the most severe consequences.

Sarah Brooks, Amnesty International’s Deputy Regional Director, described the situation as deeply repressive, saying: “Watching a South Korean TV show can cost you your life, unless you can afford to pay.”

She added that the system effectively criminalises access to information while allowing corruption to flourish: “The authorities criminalise access to information in violation of international law, then allow officials to profit off those fearing punishment. This is repression layered with corruption, and it most devastates those without wealth or connections.”

Despite the risks, South Korean media continues to circulate inside the country. Dramas such as Crash Landing on You, which itself is partly set in North Korea, are said to be widely watched in secret.

Amnesty cited interviews claiming that people caught watching Squid Game or listening to K-pop had been executed. One particularly severe case dates to 2021, when a student who smuggled Squid Game into North Korea from China was sentenced to death by firing squad.

That case was also reported by Radio Free Asia, which said the student had sold copies to fellow pupils. According to the report, one buyer received a life sentence, while others who watched the show were sent to hard labour camps for several years.

Observers say the themes of Squid Game, extreme inequality, debt and survival under brutal rules, resonate strongly with people living under the rule of Kim Jong Un.

The crackdown is enforced under North Korea’s “Law on the Elimination of Reactionary Thought and Culture”, introduced in 2020, which targets foreign books, films and music, with particular focus on content from South Korea.

Amnesty warns that the law has turned the country into what it describes as an “ideological cage”, where access to outside information is treated as a capital crime rather than a basic human right.

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