REPS URGE FG, NPF TO ENSURE PRESS FREEDOM
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The Nigeria Police Force (NPF) and the Federal Government have been urged by the House of Representatives to protect journalistic freedom.
The House spoke against the wrongful imprisonment and arrest of journalists.
The legislator, Hon. Clement Jimbo, cautioned in a motion that anyone in violation of the cybercrime legislation should face legal charges in court rather than being forcibly arrested and held.
The congressman expressed concern about allegations of cyberbullying and brought attention to the fact that ten journalists had been arrested in the previous year.
The House also urged law enforcement to only employ the Cybercrime Act in certain situations.
In May, the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) and the Nigeria Guild of Editors (NGE) called on Nigerian authorities to stop using repressive laws against journalists.
The groups made the call in a joint statement as the international community marked World Press Freedom Day.
They said, “The government of President Bola Tinubu, the country’s 36 governors, and the FCT minister must now genuinely uphold press freedom, ensure access to information to all Nigerians, obey court judgments, and respect the rule of law.”
The groups expressed “serious concerns about the escalating crackdown on the right to freedom of expression and media freedom and the flagrant disregard for the rule of law by authorities at all levels of government.”
They noted, “that the suppression of the press in recent times takes various forms ranging from extrajudicial to unlawful detentions, disappearances, malicious prosecutions and wrongful use of both legislation and law enforcement.”
The statement added, “We would continue to speak truth to power and to hold authorities to account for their constitutional and international obligations including on freedom of expression and media freedom”.
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