In commemoration of this year’s World Press Freedom Day, members of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), Media Rights Agenda (MRA) and Fact Check Africa have urged government to promote an enabling environment for independent journalism and safety of journalists.

Themed, ‘Shaping a future at peace,’ MRA’s programme officer, Ayomide Eweje, observed the state of media freedom in the country remains deeply concerning, marked by persistent and spiralling incidents of attacks against journalists and media organisations, growing hostility toward journalists and the media, and an increasingly restrictive environment for independent reporting.

Over the past year, she recalled the nation has witnessed a pattern of intimidation, harassment, and arbitrary arrests and detention of journalists by security agencies and other state actors.

Speaking further, Eweje urged the Federal Government to take urgent steps to comply with a February 16, 2024 judgment of a Federal High Court in Abuja directing it to investigate, prosecute, and punish perpetrators of all attacks against journalists and other media practitioners, and take measures to prevent further attacks.

She noted government’s failure to comply with the court’s orders more than two years later is enabling impunity and encouraging further attacks on journalists.

Eweje observed that misuse of laws and regulations to stifle dissent remains a major challenge in the country, as provisions of the Cybercrime Act and other laws have been deployed to target journalists, bloggers, and media platforms, often under the guise of maintaining national security or public order or protecting the reputations of public officials and other rich and powerful members of society.

On his part, co-editor Fact Check Africa, Habeeb Adisa, noted an environment where the media could operate freely and safely is critical for holding power to account, countering falsehoods, and ensuring citizens have access to accurate and reliable information.

Saying Fact Check Africa stands in solidarity with media professionals who face intimidation, censorship, and threats in the line of duty, he added the organisation also pays tributes to journalists who have lost their lives in pursuit of truth, acknowledging their courage and sacrifice in defending the public’s right to know.

Speaking further, Adisa called on government and stakeholders to actively shape a future of peace by protecting press freedom as a foundation for human rights, development and security.

Ultimately, he stated safeguarding press freedom remains essential to building transparent, accountable and peaceful societies.

In conclusion, Adisa disclosed that as an organisation committed to promoting information integrity and combating misinformation, Fact Check Africa recognises that press freedom is fundamental to the work of fact-checkers and journalists.

Similarly, UNESCO stated, “May 3 acts as a reminder to governments of the need to respect their commitment to press freedom and is also a day of reflection among media professionals about issues of press freedom and professional ethics. Just as importantly, World Press Freedom Day is a day of support for media which are targets for the restraint, or abolition, of press freedom. It is also a day of remembrance for those journalists who lost their lives in the pursuit of a story.”

This year’s conference held in Lusaka Zambia on May 4, 2026.