Security agencies worst enemies of media in Nigeria – Report

An annual state of media freedom report for 2024 released yesterday by the Media Rights Agenda (MRA) said security agencies, including the police, military and intelligence services, have consistently been the worst enemies of the media in Nigeria in recent years and were responsible for the highest number of attacks against journalists this year 2024.

MRA noted in the 137-page report, titled ‘Media Freedom Under Threat: The State of Media Freedom and Journalists’ Safety in Nigeria 2024’, that out of a total of 64 attacks against journalists that it recorded in 2022, law enforcement and security agencies were responsible for 29, representing approximately 45 per cent of the attacks; while they were responsible for 34 out of the 77 attacks against journalists it documented in 2023, representing approximately 44 per cent.

However, MRA said the situation got significantly worse in 2024 as law enforcement and security agencies were responsible for 45 out of the total number of 69 attacks against journalists it documented between January 1 and October 31, representing approximately 65 per cent.

In a statement issued in Lagos announcing the launch of the report, MRA’s Programme Officer, Mr John Gbadamosi, said: “It is ironic that the institutions tasked with upholding the rule of law as well as ensuring the safety and security of citizens, including journalists, have instead become the instruments of oppression against the media.

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“It is worse still that the pervasive culture of impunity which has ensured a lack of accountability for past attacks has now emboldened these perpetrators to the extent that we are now seeing them at their most horrendous.”

The report documented in detail 21 cases of assault and battery against journalists during the first 10 months of the year; 17 cases of arbitrary arrests and detention; three cases of raids on homes/offices of journalists; eight cases of threat to life; two cases of harassment, six cases of abductions/kidnapping; five instances when journalists were obstructed from performing their duties; one journalist killed; and six cases of other forms of attacks.

Besides law enforcement and security agencies, other perpetrators of attacks against journalists documented in the report include other government officials responsible for four of the attacks; the courts, responsible for two violations of journalists’ rights; thugs and hoodlums, responsible for seven of the attacks; four unknown gunmen and six other unknown persons.