The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project, (SERAP), has accused the Federal and State Government of suppressing press freedom in Nigeria.
SERAP stated this in a report titled: “A Downward Spiral”: How Federal and State Authorities Are Tightening the Screws on Media Freedom in Nigeria.
The report was presented by Richard Akinnola, a human rights and pro-democracy activist in Lagos.
According to the report, the government suppressed the free press in the country through corruption, poor remuneration of journalists, subversion of extant laws regulating the practice of media, press censorship and persecution of journalists.
SERAP described as “archaic”, the imposition of obnoxious laws to gag the press and intimidation of the media despite its constitutional role in Section 22 of the 1999 Constitution.
“Media stakeholders and civil society groups need to continue to harp on the inviolability of section 22 of Nigeria’s Constitution and the need to adhere to the admonition of the Court of Appeal in the case of Arthur Nwankwo, concerning the issue of sedition, a dead law which the Government often uses to hound the press,” the report reads in part.
“There is no doubt that many public officials have not imbibed certain democratic norms, which include accepting criticisms.”
SERAP urged civil society and human rights groups to ensure the rights of journalists and other media practitioner are protected against attacks, persecution by public officials.
To curb attacks on journalists, SERAP asked the Nigerian Guild of Editors and the Nigerian Union of Journalists to work closely with Non-Governmental Organizations and other stakeholders to carry out systematic monitoring and reporting of freedom of expression abuses throughout the country.
SERAP said the president, the National Assembly, the 36 state Governors, United Nations, African Commission on Human and Peoples Rights, among others, have roles to play in order to end attacks on media practitioners.
In September, Chido Onumah, a Nigerian journalist and activist, was arrested by the Department of States Services (DSS). He was said to have been arrested for wearing a shirt with the inscription: ‘We Are All Biafrans.’
The inscription on Onumah’s shirt is the title of a book he about Nigeria. The book, a collection of essay, focused on the need to restructure Nigeria in order to be able to build a united country.
Also, Agba Jalingo, a journalist and publisher of CrossRiverWatch, a Cross River State-based newspaper, was arrested in August by the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) of the police.
He was said to have published a story about a microfinance bank several months after the state governor Benedict Ayade, announced the allocation of N500 million for the establishment of the bank without any activity going on there.
