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On the occasion of this year’s International Day to End Impunity for Crimes Against Journalists, the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) enjoined that journalists should be protected against undue attacks from different quarters. Chairman of NUJ, Lagos State Council, Adeleye Ajayi, urged the Federal Government and security agencies to end further attacks and reopen investigation of past assaults on journalists.
The European Union (EU) Delegation Representative, Wynyfred Achu Egbuson, at a recent media roundtable in Abuja, said UNESCO had reported an increasing number of attacks and threats against journalists. “Forty-four have so far been killed in 2021, many more are attacked, unlawfully imprisoned or missing leaving their families awaiting news of their fate, sometimes for years,” Egbuson said.
Globally, UNESCO estimated that over 1,327 journalists were killed in the line of duty between 1993 and 2019. About 349 of these attacks were said to have occurred in Nigeria. An international non-governmental organisation, Reporters Sans Frontieres (Reporters Without Borders) further alleged that 49 journalists were killed and 57 others held hostage in 2019. Besides, monitoring and advocacy activities by the International Press Centre (IPC) indicated that a total of 150 press freedom violations and attacks against journalists occurred in Nigeria between 2016 and 2020.
A 2021 Press Freedom Report, released recently by the Media Foundation for West Africa, in collaboration with the NUJ, indicated that eight Nigerian journalists had been killed and 300 violations recorded in the present regime of President Muhammadu Buhari. Some media practitioners murdered in Nigeria include, among others, Dele Giwa of Newswatch magazine, Bagauda Kaltho of TheNews magazine, Bayo Ohu of The Guardian, Godwin Agbroko of ThisDay, Edo Ugbagwu of The Nation, Ikechukwu Onubogu of the Anambra Broadcasting Service, Lawrence Okojie of the Nigerian Television Authority in Edo State, Enenche Akogwu and Precious Owolabi all of Channels Television.
Also, for some weeks now, the whereabouts of the Vanguard reporter in the House of Representatives, Tordue Salem, have remained a mystery. So far, there have been no credible investigations to unravel the perpetrators of these crimes against journalists or their motives. Those who are lucky to escape death may not escape torture and other forms of degrading treatment.
In 2019, about 36 Nigerian journalists were reportedly attacked between January and July. In May 2019, for instance, a freelance journalist and critic of Governor Nasir el-Rufai of Kaduna State, Steven Kefas, was arrested and detained in Kaduna prison for about 162 days. In August 2019, publisher of the online Cross River Watch, Agba Jalingo, was charged with felony, terrorism and attempt to topple the Cross River State Government. Jalingo spent some months in detention. Between July 2016 and July 2018, the publisher of the Bayelsa-based Weekly Source newspaper, Jones Abiri, was in detention without trial. In the 2020 World Press Freedom Index, Nigeria was ranked 115th out of 180 countries. Reporters Sans Frontieres, which compiled the index, described Nigeria as one of Africa’s most dangerous and difficult countries for journalists, who were often spied on, attacked, arbitrarily arrested or even killed.
This state of affairs can only end up in hindering the free flow of information in the country. When a journalist is cowed by torture, imprisonment or death, he may be restrained by fear from exercising his constitutionally given rights to inform the public and hold government accountable and responsible. This is dangerous for our democracy.
We condemn the attacks on journalists in Nigeria and elsewhere. It is reprehensible, to say the least. It is more reprehensible that these killings are done with impunity. Section 22 of the 1999 Nigerian Constitution (as amended) specifies the duties of the media. It states that “the press, radio, television and other agencies of the mass media shall at all times be free to uphold the fundamental objectives contained in this Chapter and uphold the responsibility and accountability of the government to the people.” Section 39 (1) of the Constitution protects the freedom of expression in Nigeria. International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and Article 19 of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948) all protect the rights of journalists to ply their trade without molestation.
Government at all levels must ensure that these rights are protected; and that journalists are not harmed while performing their duties. They must be protected like other professionals. In view of this, therefore, government must do everything possible to help rescue the missing Vanguard journalist in Abuja.
Media owners, on their part, must ensure they adequately equip and pay journalists for the job they are doing. They should provide life assurance for their workers. The NUJ and the Nigerian Guild of Editors should join in ensuring that journalists are protected from the hazards of the profession. Rather than resort to extra-judicial means, whoever feels aggrieved against the media should seek remedies through the laws of the land.
