Haruna Mohammed Salisu

Biography

I am a journalist and teaching assistant. As a journalist in Nigeria, I founded WikkiTimes, an investigative news outlet focused on the desert areas of northern Nigeria. I have published a series of investigative reports that irked authorities and influential individuals. I have received several threats, including death threats. There are nine Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (SLAPP) lawsuits against me and the publication. In April 2024, I fled Nigeria to a neighboring country when the threats and pressure became so intense. A few months after fleeing Nigeria, I was awarded by Nigeria’s highest Journalism association, the Nigeria Union of Journalists, for my courageous journalism.

My lived experiences now anchor my research. My M.A. thesis examines how local newsrooms in non-metropolitan Nigeria sustain themselves amid financial and legal pressures, and my broader work addresses anti-SLAPP civil procedure and the use of courts to reshape press freedom in Africa.

I continue to report from exile: recently, my cross-border investigation revealed how the International University of Bamenda in Cameroon awarded fraudulent doctoral degrees to Nigerian public figures, including a Bauchi State governorship candidate.

Under my leadership, WikkiTimes has recently launched two fellowships that convert this experience into durable defense. The Femi Falana Legal Defenders’ Fellowship trains early-career lawyers to defend journalists and civic actors against the SLAPPs that increasingly substitute for censorship, and the Anas Aremeyaw Anas AI Fellowship equips reporters across Northern Nigeria to use artificial intelligence and open-source techniques in investigations

I have received several reporting grants, including from the Institute of War and Peace Reporting (IWPR), the International Center for Investigative Reporting (ICIR), the Wole Soyinka Center for Investigative Journalism, and the Center for Collaborative Investigative Journalism (CCIJ. I have also secured grants for WikkiTimes from various non-profit organizations.

As a newsroom mentor, I have supported other reporters at WikkiTimes, HumAngle, CrossRiverWatch, TheInformant247, and Women Radio Center. I’m curious about and interested in everything related to journalism.