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A journalist with a leading private television station in Niamey, Niger’s capital, was released on Friday after spending 10 months in detention, his employer said.
Ibro Chaibou was held in pre-trial detention in Niger, according to a local journalists’ organisation.
His release comes as the military government faces continued criticism from rights groups over restrictions on press freedom since it seized power in a 2023 coup.
“Our colleague Ibro Chaibou has just regained his freedom after 10 months in prison,” Saraounia television said in a statement.
The station said Chaibou had been detained at Kollo Prison, about 50 kilometres (30 miles) southwest of Niamey.
Chaibou was among seven journalists arrested in November over allegations of “complicity in disseminating a document liable to disturb public order.”
Four of the journalists, including Saraounia director Moussa Kaka, were charged after police held them but were later released on bail.
Chaibou, along with Youssouf Seriba, editor-in-chief of online publication Les Echos du Niger, and Oumarou Kane, director of Le Herisson newspaper, remained behind bars.
Seriba and Kane were granted provisional release in July, leaving Chaibou as the final journalist from the group still in custody.
The arrests stemmed from the leak of an invitation to a press briefing that Saraounia received from the Solidarity Fund, an initiative established by Niger’s military authorities to solicit financial contributions from the public.
The invitation was later circulated on social media and reportedly used by associates of ousted civilian president Mohamed Bazoum to criticise the military regime.
Niger has been governed by a military junta since the 2023 coup that removed Bazoum from power. Rights organisations have repeatedly raised concerns about shrinking civic space and increasing restrictions on journalists under the junta.
The United Nations said 13 journalists were arrested in Niger in 2025, highlighting the growing pressure on the country’s media.
