Journalists and Media Rights Agenda (MRA) have flayed governments and their agencies for interfering and impeding the work of journalists in Nigeria.

They spoke, yesterday, at the end of a two-day Workshop on Laws Affecting the Media and Safety of Journalists in Nigeria, at Celia’s Suite Hotel, Abeokuta, Ogun State.

The workshop, organised by MRA, was attended by participants made up of media professionals from broadcast, print and online organisations from states across the South-West geo-political zone of the country.

The workshop was supported by MacArthur Foundation through the Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism (WSCIJ) under the Collaborative Media Engagement for Development, Inclusion and Accountability (CMEDIA) Project, a multi-level intervention that supports media independence, improved transparency, accountability, and good governance in state and local governments.

At the workshop, participants recognised the increasing importance of keeping abreast of digital security trends and developments to avoid various digital threats and attacks as well as to mitigate their negative impact on journalism practice.

They lamented that the lack of adequate legal guarantee for media freedom, either in the Constitution or in other existing laws, leaves journalists and other media professionals vulnerable to various forms of attacks and harassment designed to prevent them from reporting on matters that would enable them to fulfil their constitutional responsibility of upholding the accountability and responsibility of the government to the people.

The participants deplored the widespread arrests, brutalisation, harassment and intimidation of journalists covering #EndBadGovernance protests in various parts of the country, mostly by law enforcement and security officials, describing such actions as an unacceptable violation of the rights of journalists.

They noted that the right of journalists to cover protests, whether violent or not, and to report reactions to protests by government officials and other actors, is well-established and protected under international human rights laws and called on Federal and State governments to fulfil their obligations to protect journalists covering the protests while ensuring that those who attack, harass or intimidate journalists in the course of carrying out their professional functions are brought to justice.

In the light of the scale of legal challenges faced by journalists and other media professionals, a legal support fund should be established alongside a national network of lawyers who can be called upon to assist journalists facing legal challenges or other forms of challenges requiring legal interventions.

Participants expressed gratitude to MRA for organising the workshop and to the MacArthur Foundation and the Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism for funding it.

Executive Director, MRA, Edetaen Ojo said that governments and others misusing laws and regulations to impede the work of journalists, prevent them from carrying out sensitive or critical stories or to punish them for publishing such stories as such practice violates the spirit of the Constitution and undermines the credibility and legitimacy of our legal system.

“Journalists and media organisations should collaborate more to address threats and challenges as well as to provide solidarity and support to each other in times of need while media owners and managers should be more responsive to the needs and welfare of journalists working in their organisations, including by providing adequate support and assistance whenever such journalists are facing challenges as a result of their work, whether of a legal nature or otherwise.”