DSS, NSCDC, LASTMA officials top list of assaulters of journalists — IPC report

Officials of national security operatives from the Nigerian Police Force (NPF), Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps  (NSCDC), National Intelligence Agency (NIA), Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA) and others have ranked shoulder to shoulder with political thugs, armed robbers and militant groups like the Islamic State’s West Africa Province (ISWAP) as notable attackers of journalists according to a 2022 report on state of attacks on journalists compiled by the International Press Centre (IPC).

Daily Trust reports that the report was launched and disseminated on Friday during a stakeholder’s forum titled “Journalists’ safety and protecting freedom of expression in the age of misinformation and disinformation.”

Others indicted in the report recorded in Zamfara, Jigawa, Kaduna, Kwara, Gombe, Taraba, Adamawa, Bauchi, Lagos, Ondo, Osun, Ogun, Oyo, Enugu, Bayelsa, Delta, Edo, Cross River & FCT Abuja were the DSS, politicians, Police Force Intelligence Bureau (FIB), hoodlums, shooting stars FC fans etc.

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Speaking during the introduction of IPC’s Centre for Safety and Protection of Journalists (CSPJ), Mr. Lanre Arogundade; the executive director of IPC highlighted the different measures and methodology adopted by the council in recording the anomalies perpetrated against newsmen and also the different roles played by the body in catering for victims of attacks.