Nigeria

2019

  
Police officers are seen in Lagos, Nigeria, on August 5, 2019. Lagos police recently arrested publisher Agba Jalingo, who has been charged by federal authorities with treason. (AP/Sunday Alamba)

Nigerian publisher Agba Jalingo charged with treason

Abuja, September 5, 2019 — Nigerian authorities should drop all charges against publisher Agba Jalingo, release him from detention, and stop using the country’s state security laws to harass government critics, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

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Police are seen in Abuja, Nigeria, on July 23, 2019. Nigerian publisher Agba Jalingo has been detained since August 22 without charge. (Reuters/Afolabi Sotunde)

Nigerian publisher Agba Jalingo detained since August 22 without charge

Abuja, August 28, 2019 – Nigerian authorities should immediately release publisher Agba Jalingo and halt their harassment of journalists reporting on alleged corruption and other issues of public interest, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

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Police officers pull a journalist during an anti-government protest in Lagos, Nigeria, on August 5, 2019. At least four journalists were detained during the protests. (Reuters/Nneka Chile)

Police in Nigeria assault, arrest journalists covering #RevolutionNow protests

On August 5, 2019, Nigerian police arrested and detained at least four journalists covering protests that took place across Nigeria in connection with the hashtag #RevolutionNow, according to journalists who spoke with CPJ and media reports.

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Members of National Youth Service Corp carry the body of their colleague, the reporter Precious Owolabi, in Abuja on July 23. Owolabi was shot while covering protests in the Nigeria capital. (AFP/Kola Sulaimon)

Channels TV reporter dies from injuries after shooting at Nigeria protest

New York, July 25, 2019–Nigerian authorities should immediately investigate the death of Precious Owolabi, a reporter for the privately owned Channels TV, who was shot during a protest in Abuja on July 22, and ensure those responsible are held to account.

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The Federal High Court in Lagos, Nigeria, is seen on May 8, 2018. Journalist Jones Abiri is set to attend a hearing at the high court in Abuja on cybercrime, anti-sabotage, and terrorism charges. (Reuters/Akintunde Akinleye)

CPJ calls for charges to be dropped against Nigerian journalist Jones Abiri

New York, June 27, 2019 — The Committee to Protect Journalists today urged Nigerian authorities to release journalist Jones Abiri and drop cybercrime, anti-sabotage, and terrorism charges against him.

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Federal Special Anti-Robbery Squad officers are seen in Kano, Nigeria, on February 23, 2019. Journalist Kofi Bartels told CPJ he was recently assaulted and threatened by anti-robbery officers. (AFP/Pius Utomi Ekpei)

Nigerian journalist Kofi Bartels says police beat him, threatened him with sexual assault

New York, June 6, 2019 — Nigerian authorities must investigate and hold accountable the police officers responsible for allegedly assaulting and threatening journalist Kofi Bartels, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

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Nigerian journalist Jones Abiri, left, and Alagoa Morris, pictured in Abuja after Abiri's release from detention in 2018. A court on May 22, 2019 charged Abiri on three counts and ordered him detained. (Alagoa Morris)

Nigeria charges Weekly Source editor Jones Abiri under cybercrimes, terrorism acts

Berlin, May 22, 2019 –A federal court today charged Jones Abiri, the publisher and editor-in -chief of the Weekly Source, under Nigeria’s cybercrimes act, anti-sabotage act, and terrorism prevention act for crimes allegedly carried out in 2016, and ordered the journalist to be detained, according to his lawyer, Samuel Ogala, and charge documents seen by…

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The National Assembly is seen in Abuja, Nigeria, on August 7, 2018. Authorities recently announced strict new requirements for obtaining press credentials to cover the assembly. (Reuters/Afolabi Sotunde)

New accreditation requirements restrict press access to Nigeria’s National Assembly

Berlin, May 21, 2019 — Authorities in Nigeria should withdraw new media accreditation requirements for accessing the National Assembly, the country’s legislature, and ensure that future regulations do not unduly limit freedom of the press and access to information, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

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A billboard for Nigeria's incumbent president Muhammadu Buhari and his deputy, who won re-election in February. (CPJ/Jonathan Rozen)

‘You cannot muzzle the media’: Nigerian journalists on press freedom under Buhari

When Nigeria’s incumbent president Muhammadu Buhari won re-election this year, he campaigned (as he did in 2015) on an image of good governance and anti-corruption. Billboards in the capital, Abuja, bore the smiling faces of the president–who first led Nigeria as military ruler from 1983-1985–and his vice-president Yemi Osinbajo, and called for voters to let…

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A picture of Jones Abiri after he was arrested by Nigeria's Department of State Services (DSS) in 2016. (DSS/ Sahara Reporters)

Nigerian journalist Jones Abiri arrested again in Bayelsa state

New York, March 30, 2019–Unidentified men today arrested Jones Abiri, the editor and publisher of the Weekly Source newspaper, in the Bayelsa state capital, Yenagoa, according to news reports, as well as a local activist with whom CPJ spoke and posts on social media.

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2019