Police officers and other security agencies were responsible for nearly 72% of attacks on journalists in March, the International Press Centre says.
It comes as the group Reporters Without Borders ranked Nigeria 111th position among 180 countries in its latest press freedom index.
In a publication to mark World Press Freedom, it says 13 journalists were attacked in March alone and the attacks “increased as a result of the elections conducted during the month.”
Four of the attacks in Delta were by political thugs, two by military men in Maiduguri and a lone attack by hoodlums in Lagos, the centre reported.
IPC said it was worrisome that the perpetrators of the attacks “have not been brought to justice.”
“The harassment of journalists in the course of their legitimate duties as evidenced by the outcome of monitoring clearly shows that press freedom remains under threat in the country despite the efforts that have been made to widen the scope of freedom of expression and uphold the right of the public to know the truth since the return of civil rule,” it said.
“Political thugs have continued to assault journalists and media practitioners without being reprimanded.”
The police authorities, other law enforcement agencies and the leadership of the political parties should enlighten their men and members on the important role of the media during future elections which requires that the freedom of journalists should not be tampered with.”
It advised journalists to seek “appropriate legal action whenever their rights are violated.”
Assault and battery
Among the attacks documented by IPC:
- · Joe Ukah of The Nation sustained injuries to the head and lost personal belongings, including N15,000 and phones, when hoodlums grabbed him under a bridge on Lagos-Abeokuta expressway and beat him with sticks.
- · Perez Brisibe of Vanguard has his short torn to shreds when policemen attached a counter-terror unit assaulted him on the premises of INEC where results from presidential elections were being collated in Asaba.
- · Shedrack Onitsha was assulated by policemen when he “went to inquire on the position of things with a detained journalist.”
- · Sola Oneil of the Nation was manhandled by thugs allegedly loyal to a politician who instructed them to ensure the journalist did not cover voting at a polling unit. Thugs deleted photographs from the journalist’s camera.
- · In three other cases in Delta, policemen “stopped and molested” journalists, IPC said, and thugs deleted photographs from the journalists’ cameras.
- · Funsho Arogundade, a journalist at PM News, Imani Joe-Adeniyi, correspondent at Channels, and Saviour Etim Asuquo, were “stopped and molested” by police officers in Calabar.
- · In Maiduguri, military personnel confined Al-Jazeera journalists Ahmed Idris and Mustafa Ali to their hotel room and “forbade them from leaving because the journalists were covering a story on military activities in the area as part of Al-Jazeera’s broader election coverage,” according to IPC.
Shaking ranks
Reporters Without Borders ranks Nigeria 111 among 180 countries, with a score of 34.09, in its 2015 World Press Freedom index—that’s only one place up from its ranking of 112 last year.
It also scores Nigeria 45 on abuses score—reflecting the intensity and violence to which journalists and other providers of news and information were subjected during the year.
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is focusing on better reporting, gender equality in the media and media safety in the digital age.
It said quality journalism remained a constant concern in a media landscape changing due to developments in commerce and technology.
It worried that too few women journalists are able to reach decision-making positions in the media, 20 years after the Beijing Declaration.
It added digital safety was a growing concern because digital communications made it “difficult for journalists to protect themselves and their sources.”
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