The Coalition for Whistleblowers Protection and Press Freedom (CWPPF)
has condemned the growing trend of media censorship by state
authorities in Nigeria.
A statement from the coalition on the occasion of the 2019
International Day to End Impunity for Crimes Against Journalists said
public officers and influential individuals were becoming increasingly
intolerant of critical reporting and fair comments by journalists and
therefore, now resort to the use of instruments of state criminal
justice system to suppress freedom of expression and free press.
Members of the coalition include the African Centre for Media and
Information Literacy (AFRICMIL), Civic Media Lab, Civil Society
Network Against Corruption (CSNAC), Daily Trust Newspaper,
International Centre for Investigative Reporting (ICIR), International
Press Centre (IPC), HEDA Resource Centre, Media Rights Agenda (MRA)
and the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ).
The others are; Order Paper, Paradigm Initiative (P.I), Premium Times
(PT), Premium Times Centre for Investigative Journalism (PTCIJ),
Sahara Reporters (SR), Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability
Project (SERAP), The Cable and the Wole Soyinka Centre for
Investigative Journalism (WSCIJ).
“From January 2019 till date, we have recorded 71 attacks on the
media, including arrests, intimidation, detention and killings. We, as
a coalition, totally condemn this abuse of power by state actors and
security agencies,” it said. It faulted the flagrant disobedience of
court orders and charges of treason, terrorism and cybercrimes against
citizens by federal and state governments, saying such sets a
dangerous precedence in the misuse of state organs to silence free
expression.
It cited the recent ordeals of journalists including Jones Abiri and
Omoyele Sowore, in the hands of government officials, saying it was
unacceptable.
