BEVERLY HILLS, January 20, (THEWILL) – The Nigeria Union of Journalists, NUJ, and the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project, SERAP, have jointly sent a petition to the United Nations, UN, in which they accused the Federal Government of intimidating journalists.
They described Thursday’s arrest of the publisher of an online newspaper, Premium Times, Dapo Olorunyomi, alongside a judicial correspondent of the medium, Evelyn Okakwu, as an intensification of government’s ongoing clampdown on media freedom in the country.
Olorunyomi and Okakwu were reportedly arrested by the police over a complaint by the Chief of Army Staff, COAS, Lt. Gen. Tukur Buratai that Premium Times defamed him in a recent publication.
However, the Executive Director of SERAP, Adetokunbo Mumuni, and the NUJ President, Abdulwaheed Odusile, in a joint petition they sent to the UN on Friday accused the Federal Government of stifling press freedom in the country.
They called on the UN Special Rapporteur on the Promotion and Protection of the Right to Freedom of Opinion and Expression, Mr. David Kaye, to urgently prevail on the Federal Government and its agents “to end growing clampdown, intimidation and harassment of journalists, online newspapers, and bloggers.”
SERAP and NUJ said, “The arbitrary arrest of Mr. Dapo Olorunyomi, publisher of online newspaper, Premium Times, and the judiciary correspondent of the online newspaper, Evelyn Okakwu, would seem to mark an intensification of a crackdown on media freedom that has been going on for some time now.
“We argue that while public officials are entitled to protection of their reputation, including protection against defamation, as individuals who have sought to play a role in public affairs they should tolerate a greater degree of scrutiny and criticism than ordinary citizens.”
Meanwhile, the Country Director, ActionAid, Ojobo Ode Atuluku, also described the arrest of the publisher by the police as “an unwelcome development,” adding that such acts undermine press freedom and Nigeria’s hard-earned democracy.
