In a letter addressed to the rights’ group written by Dr. Umar Jibrilu Gwandu, Special Assistant to President Muhammadu Buhari on Media and Public Relations, the president in collaboration with the Ministry of Justice, was said to have concluded plans to bow to the demands of MRA.
Acknowledging that the government received MRA’s letter on the issue “with great appreciation,” Gwandu said it was gratifying that “professional bodies, pundits, youth and non-partisan organisations are objectively and dispassionately taking into account the outstanding professional acumen and wealth of experience brought to bear in the transformation of the Federal Ministry of Justice” by Mr. Malami.
The Executive Director of the MRA, Edetaen Ojo, made this known via a media statement made available to The Guardian last Tuesday, in Jalingo, Taraba State, when he agreed to have received delivery of the aforementioned letter.
Part of the letter reads: “Your letter requesting the Federal Government of Nigeria to establish a specialised team of prosecutors to ensure effective investigation and prosecution of crimes against journalists and other media workers through the office of the Honourable Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice has been received and is being processed.”
The letter, which was written on behalf of the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Abubakar Malami (SAN), also promised that the group “will be communicated if there is any development thereof.”
MRA, The Guardian gathered started mounting pressures on the Federal Government to establish a specialised team of prosecutors to facilitate effective investigation and prosecution of perpetrators of crimes against journalists and other media workers last year.
Ojo, who had earlier written to the Federal Government on behalf of MRA calling on the government to establish the team of specialised prosecutors, said this would, among other things, position Nigeria to “fulfil its international treaty obligations under a number of regional and international instruments.”
In its October 26, 2021 letter to the government, MRA expressed grave concern that “despite the numerous cases of attacks against journalists in Nigeria in the last decades, including many of them killed, no one has ever been charged with any crime for such attacks and nobody has ever been punished.”
The organisation said the situation was reflecting negatively on the government and signals a wrong message to perpetrators that they can attack or even kill journalists and that there will be no adverse consequences on the perpetrators.
It noted that as a regional power and leader, it was critical for Nigeria to demonstrate moral leadership by living up to the commitments it had made, particularly, in the African context, by respecting and abiding by such regional standards and instruments.
