Beyond the usual World Press Freedom Day

Ernest Udoh-Robert

3rd May acts as a reminder to governments, journalists and the public of the need to respect their commitment to press freedom, and it 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.

The Ukraine-Russian war and the Hamas-Israeli war have seen a number of journalists being killed some deliberately some accidentally during the course of their duty.

Nigerian journalists have equally been hacked down in the course of covering news for public consumption.

Unfortunately, Nigeria is one of the countries where murderers of journalists get away without the authorities ever bringing them to justice.

In the 2018 Global Impunity Index released by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), Nigeria ranked 13 out of 14 countries, making it the sixth time that Nigeria was featured on the index since 2008 that CPJ began to compile the list.

Let’s briefly look at some of the journalists that have been killed in the past decade.

Enenche Akogwu, unidentified gunmen shot Akogwu, 31, a reporter and camera operator with Channels TV, as he interviewed witnesses of terrorist attacks in Kano on January 20, 2012.

Akogwu had just returned from a police news conference following coordinated bombings by the extremist Islamist group Boko Haram.

Bayo Ohu, 45, an assistant news editor The Guardian, was shot by unidentified assailants as he answered a knock at the front door of his house in Lagos on September 20, 2009. The six assailants took a laptop and cell phone, according to the journalist’s relatives and local news reports. He was allegedly killed for his political reporting, especially his investigation into alleged fraud in Customs. In May 2012, the court freed three suspects charged with Ohu’s murder on the grounds that the prosecution had failed to prove the case.

Fidelis Ikwuebe, was a freelance journalist who contributed to The Guardian. He was abducted and murdered while covering violent clashes between the Aguleri and Umuleri communities in Anambra State on April 18, 1999. It was not clear who was responsible for Ikwuebe’s death. It was alleged that the state military administration at that time was very sensitive about news coverage of the fighting, which left several hundred people dead, and the environment was a dangerous one for journalists.

Nathan S. Dabak and Sunday Gyang Bwede, Deputy Editor Dabak, 36, and reporter Sunday Gyang Bwede, 39, journalists for the monthly newspaper of the Church of Christ in Nigeria, were driving to an assignment when they were attacked by a mob in Jos, Plateau state on April 24, 2010. They had chartered a motorcycle to travel to a scheduled interview with national parliamentarian Bitrus Kaze concerning ongoing outbreaks of deadly violence between Muslims and Christians in the area. Dabak and Bwede were stabbed by Muslim youths reacting to the discovery of a slain Muslim individual near a church.

Tunde Oladepo, a senior correspondent with The Guardian newspaper of Lagos, was murdered by five masked gunmen, who entered his home early in the morning and shot him to death in front of his wife and children on February 26, 1998. Nothing was removed from Oladepo’s residence, ruling out robbery as a motive. Oladepo was until recently bureau chief of The Guardian’s state office in Ogun and was covering political affairs. Co-workers believe he was murdered because of his work as a journalist.

Zakariya Isa, 41, a reporter and cameraman for the Nigeria Television Authority (NTA), was killed in Borno State on October 22, 2011. In an emailed statement issued after the killing, Boko Haram spokesman Abul Qaqa said the militants killed Isa “because he was spying on us for the Nigerian security authorities.”

Okezie Amaruben, the publisher of Newsservice magazine, was shot and killed by a police officer in Enugu State, on September 2, 1998. Amaruben was checking on a printing job being done for him in a shop when police officers verbally and physically attacked him. One placed a pistol to his forehead and hit him with the gun after he had identified himself as a journalist.

People at the scene told the police officers that Amaruben was not the person they were looking for. He was being forced into a police vehicle when the officer fired his gun and the bullet pierced Amaruben’s skull. Authorities confirmed that the officer who shot Amaruben was arrested shortly after the murder.

Samson Boyi, a photojournalist with the Adamawa State­ owned newspaper The Scope, was killed when about 30 armed men attacked the convoy of the state governor, Haruna Bonnie, who was travelling from the state capital, Yola, to the town of Bauchi on November 5, 1999. Boyi was one of several journalists assigned to cover the trip.

Neither the identity nor the motive of the attackers has been determined. When they opened fire on the convoy, the governor’s security guards fired back. Boyi died in the crossfire. His colleague, Umar Mustaphar, a Yola-based reporter with the Nigeria Television Authority, sustained bullet wounds.

Many more journalists have been killed rather unnecessarily and many young families are forced to start life without a father or a mother as the case may be. In many parts of the world, freedom is something that is taken for granted—the freedom to choose any religion we want (or no religion at all), the freedom to be in a relationship with the person we love, the freedom to travel…the list goes on. Unfortunately, there are many, places in the world where these freedoms are not available to most people, who are forced to live empty, unfulfilling lives so the rulers of their countries don’t have them thrown in jail or worse.

Imagine a journalist in that kind of a country. These are some of the issues world press freedom day seeks to draw the attention of the world to. North Korea has no independent journalists, and all radio and television receivers sold in the country are locked to government-specified frequencies. Burma, Turkmenistan, Equatorial Guinea, and Libya round out the top five nations on CPJ’s list of the “10 Most Censored Countries.”

Nigeria is not totally exempted, recently, the FirstNews Editor, Segun Olatunji, was abducted by at least ten armed men ‘two of them in military uniforms’ from his home in the Iyana Odo, Abule Egba area in Lagos on 15 March. Olatunji was released on 28 March by the Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA). He was handed over to the General Secretary of the Nigeria Guild of Editors, Iyobosa Uwugiaren in Abuja. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) welcomes his release, but condemns this act of brutality and intimidation by the Nigerian military on an unarmed journalist.

Though the intimidation of journalists still thrives, what is more worrisome is the cordiality that now exist between politicians and journalists. Journalists now pledge to support a ruling party or administration. Like the Akwa Ibom State Commissioner for information Comrade Ini Ememobong said, he doesn’t expect the press to be a compliant press, but would appreciate it if facts enriches the journalist reportage.

However, when we begin to be too comfortable in the presence of politicians we may be perceived as collaborators of misrule. Because there are issues that politicians will be doing against the people and we are seen as ‘friends.’ Moreover, we may hide relevant information from the public by not reporting it to protect our ‘friend’. This is the worst disservice to our profession.

The lapdog scenerio is now a reality for many journalists. We have eaten so much from our politician friends and though seeing, we cannot bark, while they keep stroking our heads and continuing their misrule. This raises the question; who watches the watchdog? Even various unions and civil society groups seems to have gone on holidays, by allowing those in government continue their reckless governance with no one calling them to account. Consequently, this emboldened their minds to continue in their unpopular policies and do more.

Good governance is not given, it must be demanded for and as journalists observed press freedom day, the public must demand the account of their stewardship. The public can write to Nigerian press council, if a report is found wanting, let his or her Editor know if you know that the facts in a story are distorted. In this manner we are demanding accountability from the watchdogs. Our docile attitude needs to change and the time to start is now.

The usual activities of having a lecture during world press freedom day should not become a fashion and after that we remove our dresses and go on as if those who lost their lives lost it in vain? The Armed forces celebrate their lost heroes but journalists don’t, we should at least demand that their killers be brought to book and all those who unjustly punished our colleagues should face the law. While we find ways of creatively reposition our profession for deeper respect and engagement. This will go beyond the usual lectures and ‘chop chop’.

For Diaspora Digital Media Updates click on Whatsapp, or Telegram. For eyewitness accounts/ reports/ articles, write to: citizenreports@diasporadigitalmedia.com. Follow us on X (Fomerly Twitter) or Facebook