Lives begin to end the day people become silent about the things that matter; as hushed, repressed voices are killers of rights and freedom of expression in a society where democracy is said to be the system of government in operation.
This becomes of great concern to patriotic citizens who cannot imagine democracy without a vibrant civil society and therefore seek solutions to ensure that voices are heard, and citizens express their opinions and rights freely, without any form of oppression or suppression.
To address this issue, the Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism ( WSCIJ) organised a conference with participants including representatives of the Police, civil society organizations, government, media, Entertainment industry, among other stakeholders. They took turns to discuss different perspectives and the way forward in safeguarding the civic space and ensuring a vibrant civil society.
The Conference which was tagged, ‘Hushed voices and the media’s defense of the civic space’, had five panelists onboarded and a Moderator (Bukola Samuel-Wemimo; News Anchor and Reporter Channels Television).
One of the panelists, Debo Adedayo popularly known as Mr. Macaroni; A Nigerian Entertainer/Comedian and a Brutality Survivor, recalled his ordeal and the torture he went through in the hand of the Police during the #EndSars protest.
“I was stripped naked, beaten and locked up in a car, my right was violated. And the reason nothing has changed in the country is because we do not enjoy the rights citizens should enjoy. Your right should not be forcefully taken from you as a citizen”.
Buttressing his statement, Mr. Macaroni said, his contents and social media platforms are all dedicated to advocacy and demands for better security measures for the people.
He further addressed the issue of bias raised by one of the Police Officers.
“I’m not sure if the solution we are fighting for will come immediately but I pray the Police will see that the fight is not only for the Nigerian people but also for them as Citizens. This is not a function of bias, it’s a function of what the people are seeing because I am a witness and victim just like so many other people are victims too. If the Police are doing good, the goodwill overshadows the bad and it will go viral; everyone will talk about it.”.
The Police Brutality Survivor who is hopeful and watchful for a change, however expressed that he will continue to pray as well as speak up when and where necessary to see that the civic space is not shrinking and violated, but duly represented and protected.
Mr. Inibehe Effiong, a Public Interest and human rights Lawyer; Principal Counsel of Inibehe Effiong in curiosity had asked, what the Police do with intelligence report when it gets to them.
According to him, “Intelligence report is useless if it cannot lead to the prevention of the intelligence you have gathered. If you receive a report that a venue will be invaded, it is no report, if you don’t know who will invade it and where invaders will come from and prevent it before it even happens”.
“The Police have no basis or reason to justify disrupting a protest regardless of the numbers of protesters. You cannot put a number to who can protest.”, he added.
Barrister Effiong further expressed that the fight for freedom of expression in the country is in the best interest of the police and their children and therefore urged them to be wise and civil in carrying out their duties.
“The problem I have with the police is that when you are fighting for the police right, they are still coming to kill you. The Policemen should realise that they are also victims of the same state that we are all fighting for”. “There should be a part of you that should make you ask yourself, who are really my enemies? Is it the defenseless Nigerian citizens or the autocratic Nigerian state”, Barrister added.
The Lawyer who spoke fiercely but honestly, however, stated that the reason this is a topic of discussion in the first place is that: “we have a tyrant in power, we have a man, who does not believe in democracy. This is not a democracy, this is a dictatorship that is why you have Twitter shut down and Minister imposing fine on Media houses in the name of hate speech”. He added that, “the reason the government are doing this is because they have failed in their promises”.
The Public Relations Officer, Lagos Police Command; Benjamin Hundeyin was not left out on the panellist as he admitted that there are a few number of Policemen who misbehave and have misrepresented the Police Force.
He however stated calmly but firlmy that this should not be generalized as there are a great number of Policemen who are doing their best, serving correctly and tenaciously with the peoples’ best interest at heart to ensure that citizens are protected.
Meanwhile, Matilda Ngbaronye; Lagos Police Deputy Public Relations Officer, who felt the Police were not given due accolades and justice, however, raised an objection to the popular views and demand at the conference, stating that the people are bias and subjective in their opinion. She said that everyone was speaking from their various perspectives and not the Police’; neglecting the good things that the Police have done to protect the citizenss in the country.
Mr. Olakunle Akinriade; Head, Weekend Crime Desk, The Nations Newspaper, who had earlier raised a concern and greiviance towards the parading of Suspects that have not been proven guilty, responded to Maltida, stating that nobody is bias against the Police. He said that the Police have done well but can do better in serving the general public and not some set of people.
Among those who hold authorities accountable, the media leads. Within the media, investigative reporters are duty bearers. This position makes journalists and Media houses premeditated targets of action that restrict freedom of expression despite the several laws that uphold this fundamental human right.
In view of this, Barrister Effiong emphasised the right of Journalists to report information freely.
According to him, Section 22 of the 1999 Constitution of Nigeria rests on Chapter 2 of the same constitution. Section 22 compels “the press, radio, television and other agencies of the mass media to, at all time, be free to uphold the responsibility and accountability of the government to the people. He, therefore, encouraged Journalists not to be intimidated.
Victoria Ibezim-Ohaeri; a Lawyer and the Executive Director, Spaces for Change while addressing Critical issue on the rights and protection of the citizen, mentioned the various and existing legal and social protection mechanisms available to Journalists, companies and individuals – all citizens at different levels.
She explained that these provisions are made available to demand protection for yourself from the government. She said, “Many people are not aware of the legal protection available to demand legal provision for themselves from the government . The FOI Act is one of them – it works. Applying for Asylum for journalists who are in severe danger with their families, is another”, she added.
Mrs. Ibezim-Ohaeri however expressed the need for all to understand that sometimes we can get result online but a lot of people should oftentimes march their online action with an offline action. “If you tweet online and shout all you want without taking an action offline, you will just be making noise. For example, all Judges are aware of #EndSars, but if you do not actively bring a case forward, file it in court, and be assigned a judge, no matter how progressive a Judge is, nothing can be done about it”. “This means that the anger displayed online has to be translated to offline action”, she stressed.
For bloggers, Ohaeri said, there are laws on sedition, libel- defamation of Character that people can arm themselves with, to avoid crossing the line and going against the rule and ethics guiding the journalism practice and civic spaces, such that people can express their views without using insulting words.
Mr. Olakunle, while speaking to journalists said that, journalists should do a thorough investigation and adequate research on every report they are given by the police. He said, “For every organisation that is dishing out certain data or information, there is always an agenda. In the case of the police who are parading suspects, you must be able to dig deeper to ascertain that those who are paraded are actually criminals. Visit their families, homes, to feel the pulse in the environment, ask more questions, you will get a better and richer information beyond the Police report that you have”. The truth is, Police are handicap, they take orders, it doesn’t matter if they like the assignment they are given or not,” he added.
To the Police, the Crime Editor gave a final word, “Civility is the keyword, when the police is civil in it’s approach the trust that is missing between the police and the public will be restored”.
The Conference was expressive, impactful and almost didn’t want to come to a close as the panellists explicitly expressed their hearts; speaking for and defending the rights and freedom of the public with the Moderator, Wemimo, who was spot on, as she asked questions that gave rise to these responses.
The Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer, WSCIJ, Mrs. Motunrayo Alaka, was also in attendance.
Indeed, safeguarding the civic space is not an individual race, but a collective effort as every critical stakeholders in one voice had said to ensure that the people have adequate protection and their rights, not trampled upon. Even when it is trampled upon, they get justice, have a sense of belonging to ensure that voices are not muffled but heard.
