All promoters of media rights and freedom should be alarmed at the report that 2024 was the deadliest year for journalists globally for over three decades. In a special report released on February 12, 2025, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) said last year’s death toll exceeded that of 2007 when 113 journalists were killed, especially during the United States-led war in Iraq.
At least, 124 journalists and media workers were killed worldwide in 2024. Almost 70 per cent of these deaths were reportedly at the hands of Israeli military in Gaza and Lebanon. Eighty-two journalists were killed in Gaza, three in Lebanon. The Chief Executive Officer of CPJ, Jodie Ginsberg, said “the war in Gaza is unprecedented in its impact on journalists and demonstrates a major deterioration in global norms on protecting journalists in conflict zones, but it is far from being the only place journalists are in danger.”
In 16 other nations, 39 other journalists were killed in 2024. They included six in Sudan, six in Pakistan, five in Mexico, four in Syria, three in Myanmar, three in Iraq and two in Haiti.
Previous years were not devoid of these killings. Between 1993 and 2019, the United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) estimated that over 1,327 journalists were killed globally in the line of duty. Nigeria was not spared as about 349 of these attacks reportedly occurred in the country.
Unfortunately, some of these killings were deliberate. According to the CPJ, at least 24 journalists worldwide were deliberately killed because of their work over the past year. Some of the victims of these targeted killings were Ismail Al-Ghoul, a 27-year-old Palestinian journalist working for Al Jazeera, and his cameraman, Rami Al-Refee. They were killed in July 2024 in an Israeli airstrike on Al-Shati refugee camp in northern Gaza. The Israeli Defence Force claimed Al-Ghoul was a member of Hamas’ military wing and had taken part in the October 7 attack on Israel. Al Jazeera vehemently denied this.
The CPJ also noted that a total of 43 freelancers were killed last year. The majority of them were Palestinians in Gaza. These freelancers usually have no access to protective equipment or insurance for medical treatment, or benefits that would help family members, the report noted.
In Nigeria, no journalist was killed in 2024. But in previous years, a number of them had been killed. Among prominent Nigerian journalists killed in the past included Dele Giwa of Newswatch magazine, Bagauda Kaltho of TheNews magazine, Godwin Agbroko of ThisDay, Bayo Ohu of The Guardian, Edo Ugbagwu of The Nation and Enenche Akogwu and Precious Owolabi of Channels Television.
The major reason for the rise in the killing of journalists, according to the CPJ, is the increase in the number of conflicts – whether criminal, political or military in nature – in the world in the past five years. The Committee cited data from the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data (ACLED) to buttress its report.
Outside killings, journalists are routinely harassed, intimidated, attacked and unlawfully imprisoned in the cause of doing their work. For instance, no journalists were killed in Somalia in 2024, but they were reportedly arrested and assaulted for covering subjects like the country’s security services. The same thing happened in Cameroon and Afghanistan where, though no journalists were killed last year, they were arrested, censored, and intimidated.
For Nigeria, it is the same story. Last year, a number of journalists were harassed and arrested on such phantom charges as breaching the cybercrime law. Between 2016 and 2020, the International Press Centre reported that a total of 150 press freedom violations and attacks against journalists occurred in Nigeria.
We agree with the CPJ that the United Nations Security Council “must urgently implement Resolution 2222 (2015) and Human Rights Council Resolution 33/2 (2016), which mandates member states to prevent, protect and prosecute in order to end impunity in the killing of journalists.”
Besides, governments must ensure that they protect certain rights such as the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and Article 19 of the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948) all of which protect the rights of journalists to do their job without molestation.
Governments must also ensure prompt and thorough investigation of all killings and attacks on journalists and the prosecution of all those found culpable as well as adequate compensation for the families of the deceased journalists. Countries experiencing armed conflict should ensure the protection of journalists under the international humanitarian law.
We urge media owners to support journalists by providing them with adequate tools to aid their work. They should also provide training for their reporters on how to handle conflict situations. Let them also provide life assurance cover for journalists so that their families could have something to fall back on in the case of death. We enjoin the Nigerian Guild of Editors and the Nigeria Union of Journalists to champion the welfare and protection of journalists in Nigeria at all times.
As the CPJ noted, “every journalist killed is the loss of a truth-teller. Those who chronicle our reality and hold power to account deserve justice. We will not stop seeking it.”