• Ask Tinubu to protect democracy
Media rights groups, including the International Press Institute (IPI), Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE) Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) and Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA), have condemned the abduction in March of the now-released Editor of FirstNews, Segun Olatunji, by armed military personnel from his Iyana Odo, Abule Egba, Lagos to Abuja.
While urging punitive measures for the perpetrators, equally asked President Bola Tinubu to protect the nation’s nascent democracy and promote press freedom by checking the activities of security agents.
NGE’s Secretary, Iyobosa Uwugiaren, at a news conference to update the public, had expressed concern that there was a secret plot to harm the detained journalist.
He said: “For us, this vicious, uncivilised, unlawful and criminal action of the Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA) is unacceptable. The action is alien to Nigeria’s democratic space.
It is now clear that some officers in our military are still finding it difficult to subject themselves to civil authority 24 years after our country returned to representative governance.
“We do not think this kind of attitude should be condoned by President Bola Tinubu, particularly, and Nigerians, in general. If officers in a military institution like DIA could hack a journalist’s telephone, mishandle his wife, abduct him, detain him secretly for 12 days and disobey senior officials of the Federal Government, then our democracy cannot be said to be safe.
“By all standards, the actions of the DIA, Chief of Defence Staff, Christopher General Musa and Major General Undiandeye are against the provisions of Nigeria’s 1999 Constitution and other international instruments to which Nigeria is a signatory, which forbids the detention of any citizen or resident beyond 48 hours, except with a valid court order.
“More so, the DIA’s action is a direct attack on press freedom. One of the core missions of the free press is to serve as a watchdog on power. The press, as we all know, is the connection between the people and the government. If the press is not allowed to carry out its social and constitutional responsibilities but instead obligated to power, it simply serves as an extension of power.”
The scribe continued: “Without freedom of the press, our democracy is endangered. In the case of corruption, a free press is critical to exposing abuses of power. For sure, the media is not above the law, but in a democracy, the only way to determine wrong or right is through the legal process.”
Responding to the situation, the President of IPI Nigeria, Musikilu Mojeed, called on journalists to remain united and support the ongoing efforts to address media suppression.
A statement by the management of FirstNews, which confirmed the journalist’s release after over 10 days in detention, allegedly linked the abduction to a recent story published by the media organisation titled, “Revealed: Defence chief running office like family business – Public Interest Lawyers.”
It reads in part: “For days, the Publisher of FirstNews, Mr. Daniel Iworiso-Markson, as well as Mr. Olatunji’s colleagues and family members, tried in vain to locate him. But those who abducted him ensured he was incommunicado. They also ensured that no one knew his whereabouts, a development that further traumatised his family, employers and colleagues.
“For days, the leaderships of the IPI, NGE and the NUJ frantically searched for Mr. Olatunji. We interacted with the Presidency, Nigeria Police Force (Lagos and Abuja), Nigerian Army, Defence Intelligence Agency, Ministry of Interior, Defence Headquarters, Office of the National Security Adviser, Ministry of Information and National Orientation and the State Security Services (SSS). Other security agencies were also contacted. But all the efforts failed until last night. The military claimed the journalist was not in their custody. They lied to us and top government officials whose interventions we sought.
“However, on Monday, IPI Nigeria was able to determine (without doubt) that the journalist was being detained and tortured by the Defence Intelligence Agency in Abuja.
“The IPI then informed the Chief of Defence Staff, General Christopher Musa and the Chief of Defence Intelligence, Major General Emmanuel Undiandeye, of its finding and asked them to release our colleague immediately.
“We also provided that information to top government officials, who also reached out to Generals Musa and Undiandeye. Again, they lied that the journalist was not in their custody. Yet our sources were telling us we needed to act fast to save our colleague from being killed.
“That was what culminated in the IPI Nigeria’s press statement of Wednesday, which clearly accused the DIA of abducting and detaining Mr. Olatunji.
“Once that statement circulated in the media, the anti-democratic officers became jittery. They became even more confused after they became aware that the NGE, NUJ and the IPI had scheduled a follow-up press conference for this morning. Knowing the game was up, they admitted their crime last night. They confessed to the Honourable Minister of Information and National Orientation, Alhaji Mohammed Idris, that our colleague was in their custody, and that they would release him immediately.
“At this point, we want to put on record the important role played by the Minister of Information and other top officials of government towards the resolution of this matter.
“These reckless and anti-media officers, who apparently have no respect for civilian authorities, lied to and disobeyed officials of the Federal Government who intervened.”
HURIWA, in a statement by its National Coordinator, Emmanuel Onwubiko, regretted that “vestiges of military dictatorship have yet to be exterminated even after over 21 years that democracy berthed in Nigeria.”
It noted that the entire episode showed that aside from the mortal fear of media freedoms, the uneasiness of the top hierarchy of the Defence Headquarters to criticisms and the discharge of the constitutionally guaranteed fundamental duty of the press as encapsulated in Section 22 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended).
