Owoidoho Udofia and Okodi Okodi, two journalists with the privately owned Inspiration FM radio station in Akwa-Ibom State, in southern Nigeria, on September 24, 2019, were forced by police to take off their shirts and roll on the ground, and were beaten with sticks after covering a protest in Uyo, the state capital, according to…
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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…
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.
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…