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Journalists advised to amplify impunity against practitioners

By Margaret Mwantok
07 November 2016   |   3:32 am
Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP), Mr. Frank Mba, said the issue of journalists’ safety was very important to the Nigerian police, stressing, “the very nature of journalism has inherent risk attached to it.
Assistant Commissioner of Police ACP, Frank Mba (left); Kenneth Ugbechie; Publisher of Badagry Prime News magazine,Mr. Yomi Olomofe; Director of IPC, Mr. Lanre Arogundade and Police Public Relations Officer of Lagos State, Mrs. Dolapo Opeyemi Badmus… in Lagos

Assistant Commissioner of Police ACP, Frank Mba (left); Kenneth Ugbechie; Publisher of Badagry Prime News magazine,Mr. Yomi Olomofe; Director of IPC, Mr. Lanre Arogundade and Police Public Relations Officer of Lagos State, Mrs. Dolapo Opeyemi Badmus… in Lagos

As part of activities to commemorate the United Nations Day to End Impunity for Crimes Against Journalists, the International Press Centre (IPC), Lagos, joined the global community at media roundtable for an interactive session to mark the day. The event, which held last week at the centre in Lagos, was organised under the auspices of Nigerian Journalists Safety Initiative (NJSI) and supported by Open Society Foundation (OSF).

Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP), Mr. Frank Mba, said the issue of journalists’ safety was very important to the Nigerian police, stressing, “the very nature of journalism has inherent risk attached to it. This is where journalists and police have a convergence; whenever there is danger, police and journalists head towards the danger while others run away.”

He lamented that contrary to the Bible verse that says, ‘the truth shall set you free,’ telling the truth, he said, often lands journalists in trouble.

Mba said the lifestyle of media practitioners predisposes them to danger, as they have to work late and leave late after work to head home. According to him, “The job pattern puts them under intense pressure; there is need to re-examine some of these issues and have some protective precautions. Your life is more important than anything, as it is only a man who is alive that can have a byline.”

The police boss stated that more often than not, the conflict between the police and journalists is more a problem of perception than reality, adding, “The police man sees the journalist as rude and unpatriotic; likewise, the journalist sees the police as uneducated and rude”.

Lagos State Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Mr. Steve Ayorinde, who was represented by Director, Public Enlightenment and Community Relations, Mr. Toyin Adeni-Awosika, said government was doing a lot at ensuring safety for journalists in the state, and noted, “The government believes in training and retraining of officers to protect lives”.

Director of IPC, Mr. Lanre Arogundade, said the centre’s major concern was that many crimes committed against journalists were never brought to book, adding, “Indications from our media monitoring and journalists’ safety help desk show that journalists in Nigeria are continually subjected to various forms of attacks, mostly in the course of their professional duty.”

Police Public Relations Officer of Lagos State, Mrs. Dolapo Opeyemi Badmus, while speaking on the role of the state government in ensuring the protection of the rights and safety of journalists, said media practitioners were special species placed to check the nation. She stressed the need for journalists to keep the police update on criminal issues, saying, “the police do not get feedback on most crimes.”

According to Badmus, “The media needs to go back to investigative journalism, and work hand in hand with us. It is important that they carry us along wherever they sense danger.”

Kenneth Ugbechie, who represented president of Nigerian Guild of editors, Mrs. Funke Egbemode, stated that the Nigerian police was yet to transit into a democratic institution and that the police should confer respect on journalists.

“Journalists go to war unarmed, though the constitution gives journalists the right to hold government accountable, and this has put many lives at risk,” he said.

On his part, Chairman of Nigerian Union of Journalist (NUJ), Lagos chapter, Mr. Deji Elumoye said the safety of journalists should begin from where they work, saying, “Most media houses are owing salaries and yet they expect the best from the journalists on a daily basis. Obviously, the welfare of journalists is not their priority.”

Publisher of Badagry Prime News magazine, Mr. Yomi Olomofe, who was assaulted in 2015, said impunity and assault might not stop if examples were made of offenders, as deterrence, adding, “We should pay attention to documented materials. It is not easy for a victim to move forward in a country where the law enforcement agents seem reluctant about cases of assault of journalist assaults.”

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