Journalists celebrate Press Freedom Day with protest
As part of activities to mark this year’s celebration of World Press Freedom Day, journalists under the aegis of Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), on Monday, held a peaceful demonstration protesting the killing of journalists in Nigeria.
The protesters, led by the national chairperson of the union, Mohammed Garba, condemned the recent murders of journalists, and the security agencies’ failure to catch the perpetrators of the killings.
Photo:Journalists with placards along a street during a protest to mark World Press Freedom day in Nigeria’s commercial capital Lagos, yesterday. Photo: REUTERS
The journalists, dressed in black and carrying placards, matched to Ladi Kwali press centre, Ikeja, Newswatch office, and the Lagos State Police Command Headquarters..
Police condemned for inactivity
Chanting anti-government slogans, the journalists displayed placards with messages such as, ‘Journalists are no longer safe in Nigeria’, ‘I.G of Police, save our souls’, ‘We journalists say no to the killings of our colleagues’, and ‘God save us from these wicked enemies of the profession’.
The murder of journalists is on the increase in the country, with the recent killings of a political editor at The Guardian, Bayo Ohu last year, and a judiciary correspondent for the Nation newspapers, Edo Egbagwu, ten days ago.
“Our members are in black, an indication that the atmosphere and indeed the working condition of journalists in Nigeria are not favourable to us,” said Mr. Garba. “Most importantly, we are in black because we have recorded quite a number of intimidation, harassment, and brutal killings of our members.”
While making reference to the more recent killings of Mr. Ohu and Mr. Egbagwu, at the Lagos State Police Command, where he delivered a letter on behalf of journalists for forward transmission to the Inspector General of Police, Ogbonna Onovo, Mr. Garba expressed dismay with the police’s failure to find those responsible for the killing of journalists in the country.
“We have not seen a very serious commitment on the sides of the security agencies to fish out the killers of these our colleagues; journalists in Nigeria, I must say, we are no longer safe,” he said.
‘Police encourage the killing of journalists’
Mr. Garba further described police inefficiency as responsible for the continued trend of journalists’ killings by people he said were “threatened by journalism,” adding that the press would not be intimidated by the incidents.
“I want to believe that most of those who perpetrate these actions are either politicians, or people who feel that we are threats to their continuous existence in this country, and I want to say with all seriousness that we are not going to be scared by these actions; rather journalists are further encouraged with these tendencies which we have seen,” he said.
Solomon Arase, the deputy commissioner for police, who represented the state commissioner of police, Marvel Akpoyibo, said the police were doing their best to find the culprits responsible for the recent killings of journalists.
“We are greatly pained by the death of your colleagues and we’ve been working tirelessly to ensure that, in the end, we are able to arrest the perpetrators,” said Mr. Arase, adding that the State Police Command’s extension of invitation to journalists from the Nation newspaper to join in the investigation was to demonstrate transparency of purpose on the part of the police.
‘Police must be made to act’
However a journalist from ThisDay newspaper, Gboyega Akinsanmi, who spoke to NEXT after the march, said the police have been inactive for too long, and must now awaken to their responsibilities.
“It’s become so important for us to come out to condemn the killings of our colleagues, because it’s high time the perpetrators were brought to book,” he said.
“In all the killings, no perpetrator has ever been brought to book. We are demanding that the security agencies ensure that the masterminds are brought to book, so there will be security for journalists and their families across the country.”
Comments