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From Jeff Amechi Agbodo, Onitsha
Nigeria leading newspaper, The Sun, has emerged the International Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law (Intersociety) most reported human rights advocacy of 2022 and 2023.
The Sun topped the list for Nigeria newspaper while Sahara Reporters (SR) came top for online newspapers and the Voice of America (VOA) and the international Catholic Church owned ‘Aciafrica’ and ‘Crux’, led international, others.
Chairman of Intersociety, Emeka Umeagbalasi, who announced the over 80 top-rated local and international media freely publicised its advocacy activities in 2022 and 2023 said the top-rated media were found to have been very regular in publicising its advocacy works in addition to being top-rated and widely read.
Other media in the list, according to him, include; The NewsExpress, the Newsband, the Nigerian Voice Vanguard, Guardian, This Day, Crux, Daily Post and Christian Post that were credited for publishing over 90 per cent of its advocacy works since the formation of Intersociety in July 2008.
“We are also grateful to the US-based Christian Post (CP); a respected international anti-Christian and Religious Persecution media for publicising our works on massacre of Christians and other non-Muslims in Nigeria by murderous state actors and non-state actors since 2018. Through Christian Post, too, we have successfully brought the plight of defenceless Nigerian Christians to the international attention, commentaries, analyses and condemnations.
“Clearly stated is the fact that the over 80 top-rated local and international media did not include thousands of others that culled from them, including privately and publicly owned local and international radio stations during their main news bulletins or newspaper reviews or columnists and writers who variously quoted our reports in their newspaper or media columns and articles.
“Further discovered was the fact that our advocacy works made waves in the hands of hundreds of thousands, if not millions of lawful social media activists, including those that shared them on WhatsApp, X (Twitter), Facebook, Linked-In and other social media platforms. Not forgotten are universities and other higher institutions where our advocacy works have pricelessly aided many to become professors, doctorate, masters and first degree holders as well as local and international research institutions, policy making, diplomatic, legislative and inter-governmental, governmental and non-governmental circles where our advocacy works have been copiously quoted or cited or adopted (fully or partly) as working documents.
“Intersociety is not unaware of the fact that our advocacy works are periodically, if not regularly quoted or cited in internationally respected places like the European Parliament, the UK Parliament, the United States Congress and the United States Government (.i.e. by then President Donald Trump and his secretary of state).
“The most recent case in point was the letter written in mid January 2024 to US Secretary of State (Anthony Blinken) by 24 internationally respected persons and groups on massacre of Nigerian Christians by the government-protected Islamic Jihadists in which our April 10, 2023 report (52,250 Christians massacred in Nigeria since 2009) was prominently highlighted and copiously quoted.
“We are very much aware that some conscientious members of the UK parliament, led by respected Patrick Alton of Liverpool, Caroline Anne Cox, Mason Sam (MP) and scores of others have consistently engaged the UK government in the UK parliament over its lukewarm attitude towards the coordinated and systematic violence against Christians and non-Muslim in Nigeria and this has been on for the past four years during which our reports were severally highlighted and copiously quoted or cited.
“Our special thanks goes to those that supported us by donation of ‘in-kind expertise’ or logistical supports or field volunteerism especially in the immediate and long years gone by. “It must be clearly pointed out that Intersociety’s big success stories would not have been possibly told without their moral and logistical supports. We are also using this medium to call for more independent and credible supports in furtherance of our coming advocacy activities, particularly in the areas of technical (communication, research and investigative equipment and funded international fellowships or programmes, trainings and conferences) as well as moral and logistical supports.
“Experts and undergraduates from fields of law, criminology, security studies, peace and conflict resolution, medicine and surgery, political science, mass communications and history and international relations, are encouraged to join our volunteer corps for purpose of rendering non-salaried services to humanity through the platform of Intersociety,” Umeagbalasi said.
