Ahead of the rescheduled general election, the International Press Centre (IPC), Lagos has released contacts of Saftey Alert Officers for journalists under threat while performing their duties to contact in various zones of the country.
The contact details of the team are as follows:
Lanre Arogundade (Director, IPC) – 08023186845
Melody Akinjiyan (Safety Alert Officer, IPC) – 08132776441
Nwaebuni Rosemary (South-South) – 08035146978
Bello MujtabaRamalan (North West) – 08037004618
Moses Ojo (South West) – 08034399077
AbdulkareemHaruna (North East) – 08057244878
Elizabeth Achuagu (South East) – 08033538251
Naomi Okoh (North Central) – 07031265156
Director of the IPC, Mr Lanre Arogundade also urged journalists to report any threats to the National Secretariat of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) or the state chapters of the union.
He tasked journalists and other relevant stakeholders on safety consciousness in the performance of key institutional roles during the election.
Arogundade said the safety of journalists becomes more crucial following emerging accusations and counter-accusations by political actors and other players in the electoral process.
“It is very important for journalists covering the general elections to be safety conscious in the discharge of their duties and to avoid situations that will put them in danger. Journalists are expected to be non-partisan.
“Being partisan is not only about being a member of a political party but also includes the use of expressions and/or impressions with statements, tags, symbols and colours that portray or identify with a particular political party or personality,” Arogundade said.
He also admonished other stakeholders, especially the security agencies to undertake their tasks in a very professional manner.
“The security agencies in recent times are the perpetrators of violence against journalists. Recent incidents as witnessed in the Osun re-run elections had shown vagrant abuse and violations of the rights of journalists. The security forces should note that the media is a critical part of the electoral process and so the media should be accorded due rights and privileges to enable them to carry out their social obligations as partners in enshrining the credibility of the electoral process.
“Other stakeholders, including elections observers, should also proactively provide journalists covering the elections with information to ensure that all work together for the credibility of the electoral process,” Arogundade stated.
