Meanwhile, the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) aand the Nigeria Guild of Editors (NGE) have called on the federal government to “stop using repressive and anti-media laws such as the Cybercrimes Act and some codes of the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) to target, intimidate and harass journalists, critics and media houses.”
In a statement yesterday in Lagos after a conference to mark the World Press Freedom Day 2024, the two organisations urged Nigerian authorities at all levels to “genuinely uphold press freedom, ensure access to information to all Nigerians, obey court judgments, and respect the rule of law.”
Discussants including the President of the NGE, Eze Anaba; Provost, Nigeria Institute of Journalism, Gbenga Adefaye, Deputy Director, SERAP, Kolawole Oluwadare, among others, called for policies that would make life easier for journalists.
The statement issued at the end of the conference, said there were “serious concerns about the escalating crackdown on the right to freedom of expression and media freedom and the flagrant disregard for the rule of law by authorities at all levels of government.”
It noted that the suppression of the press in recent times takes various forms, ranging from extrajudicial to unlawful detentions, disappearances, malicious prosecutions and wrongful use of both legislation and law enforcement.
“We would continue to speak truth to power and to hold authorities to account for their constitutional and international obligations including on freedom of expression and media freedom.
“Nigeria as a country has a long and unpleasant history of press gagging and clampdown on media freedom, which is evidence of extensive state censorship of media and in some cases, the utter control of state-owned media houses.
“This position has not changed considerably despite almost 25 years of unbroken democratic rule in the Fourth Republic.
“We are concerned that press freedom remains under threat, especially due to economic challenges and other challenges such as navigating digital surveillance, hacking, online harassment and internet shutdowns.
“Freedom of the press is one of the cornerstones of a democratic society. Journalism is not a crime; it is fundamental to a free society.
“Freedom of the press is closely related to the freedom of expression, found in article section 39 of the Nigerian Constitution 1999 [as amended] and the provisions of international human rights treaties such as article 9 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights to which Nigeria is a state party”, the statement said.