…Demands Release of Abducted FRCN Reporter

…Says Increasing Intolerance of Media Reports by Government is Worrying

…Calls on Governors to Uphold Right to Freedom of Expression

The International Press Centre (IPC), Lagos has slammed renewed assault on press freedom in the country as evident in the harassment of a journalist in Ebonyi state and the abduction of another one in Kaduna state.

Mr Lanre Arogundade, IPC executive director in a statement condemned the onslaught on Mr Chijioke Agwu, The Sun reporter who attended a press conference at the Government House, Abakaliki but was whisked away by the chief security officer who was said to have acted on the instruction of the State Governor, Mr. David Umahi.

This followed alledged discontent by the Governor with a feature story by the reporter on Lassa fever outbreak in the State published by Daily Sun newspaper on April 18, 2020.

‘’It is clear that the right to freedom of expression is increasingly under threat and that journalists are detained for what they have written and this is a worrying indication of the governments’ increasing intolerance of reports on their activities that are deemed unfavourable even if such reports are in the public interest’’, he noted.

He urged the Governor, who has since ordered the journalist to be released, to learn to respect and uphold the right to freedom of expression as enshrined in the Nigerian constitution.

“Even where alleged mistakes are made in a story, there are ways of seeking redress, including the exercise of the right of reply and not abusive use of power by ordering the arrest of a journalist,” Mr. Arogundade explained, adding that “by taking the laws into his own hands, the Ebonyi State Governor exhibited nothing but executive lawlessness”, Mr. Arogundade said.

The IPC Director also condemned the reported kidnap of Mr Adamu Musa, staff of Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN), Kaduna zonal office, along Kaduna/Birnin-Gwari road as reported by Voice of Liberty NG on April 18, 2020.

He appealed to the Nigeria Police authorities in the state and at the Federal level to do all within their powers to secure freedom for the journalist.

“Journalism is not a crime and the government should continue to ensure that journalists can safely practice without intimidation and fear in line with international human rights and freedom of expression standards”, Mr. Arogundade stressed.

Leading media advocacy group, the Media Rights Agenda (MRA) recently called on the Nigerian government to adopt and implement policies and laws instituting preventive measures aimed at eliminating or reducing attacks against journalists. It also urged government to ensure routine but diligent prosecution of perpetrators of attacks against journalists.

According to the organization, by so doing, the government would be able to ensure that perpetrators of attacks against journalists do not go free while also discouraging future attacks as impunity for such attacks in the past had aggravated the situation.

The call is contained in a report by MRA titled “A Profession Endangered: An Analytical Report on the Safety of Journalists in Nigeria” in which it highlighted a variety of attacks faced by Nigerian journalists in the course of carrying out their professional duties, including assault and battery, arrests and detention, shutdown of media outlets, raids on media organizations and facilities, confiscation or destruction of work equipment, and abductions, among others.

The project which led to the report is aimed at finding solutions that ensure the safety of journalists at all times, particularly in the face of shrinking civic space in Nigeria manifested in sustained attacks on the right to freedom of expression and media freedom and in the light of the failure of successive governments, law enforcement and security agencies to take meaningful steps to address the problem which has significantly affected the ability of the media to provide the public with accurate and reliable information.

The report documents cases of attacks on journalists and the media in Nigeria between January 2017 to May 2019.  MRA said: “in all cases of attacks against journalists in Nigeria, there is no evidence of any diligent effort made by security and law enforcement agencies to investigate and prosecute perpetrators; the perpetrators invariably commit these crimes with impunity as they go scot-free without any repercussion for their actions.”

Mr. Ayode Longe, MRA’s programme director, said: “It has become imperative that we call attention to this ugly trend of attacks against the media because of the negative effect especially when government is doing nothing to address the issue. We have consistently made the point that when attacks on the media go unpunished, perpetrators are emboldened and journalists are silenced in many ways. Invariably, the public is denied vital information that they would ordinarily be able to obtain through the media and which might be critically important for decision-making on many different levels.”