Abuja — Authorities in Nigeria should discontinue criminal proceedings against journalists Haruna Mohammed Salisu and Yawale Adamu, of the privately owned WikkiTimes news site, and reform laws that criminalize the press, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Monday.

"Nigerian journalists must be allowed to investigate allegations of corruption without fear of imprisonment," said CPJ Africa Program Coordinator Muthoki Mumo, in Nairobi. "The criminal proceedings against WikkiTimes journalists Haruna Mohammed Salisu and Yawale Adamu should never have ended up in court and should be discontinued without delay."

Adamu, a reporter, is set to be arraigned on September 17 at a court in the northern Bauchi state on charges of criminal defamation, injurious falsehood, and mischief, in a case privately prosecuted by a businessman, Abubakar Abdullahi, according to the journalist, WikkiTimes lawyer Idrees Gambo, and a charge sheet reviewed by CPJ.

Gambo told CPJ that Salisu, the outlet's publisher, who is currently outside of Nigeria, is facing the same charges and that on September 3, the court had issued an arrest warrant for him. The defamation and falsehood charges each carry a sentence of up to five years, with a term of up to two years for mischief, according to the Bauchi state penal code. The journalists would also face an unspecified fine if convicted.

The charges emanate from an April 16 report alleging that a federal lawmaker from Bauchi state, Mansur Manu Soro, colluded with the businessman to fraudulently divert public funds.

Abdullahi told CPJ in a phone interview that he was aware of the court case, but he denied instituting the proceedings.

CPJ's September 16 calls and messages for comment on the charges to Soro went unanswered.