As Nigeria marked the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes Against Journalists, the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ) has expressed worry over the rising incidents of incarceration of journalists in the course of performing their duties.
It listed three journalists in the state whom it said are languishing in Ikoyi prison. They include Adekola Bamigbala, a photojournalist, Innocent Orok, a maritime journalist and Uche Igwe.
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The NUJ Chairman, Comrade Adeleye Ajayi and Secretary, Tunde Olalere stated that the current travails of the journalists are “Inimical to the struggle for press freedom and a setback to the existing relationship between the government and the Nigerian press.
“The press, as the fourth estate of the realm, does not deserve this kind of suffering our members are going through,” Ajayi stated.
The union noted that Bamigbala allegedly went on an official assignment with a team of Lagos State Transport Management Authority (LASTMA) and police officials, adding that in the course of the assignment the offender died.
“While struggling to retrieve some of his materials from the impounded vehicle.
“It is disheartening that Bamigbala has been in prison custody for more than seven weeks carrying the cross of key actors, who are government officials in the team that went out, who are walking freely.”
The union also pleaded for clemency in the case of Uche Igwe and the authorities of Chrisland School, calling for the intervention of the Lagos State government and federal government in the three judicial matters
“We call on all tiers of government to see the media as partners in progress in the sustenance of democracy.
“Be assured that we will continue to check the conduct of our members regularly in line with the ethics of journalism,” the union added.
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