Nigeria / Africa

Abuja, May 31, 2024—Nigerian police authorities should immediately drop their criminal investigation into journalist Nurudeen Akewushola and the International Centre for Investigative Reporting (ICIR), and allow them to work free of harassment and fear of arrest, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Friday.  On May 20, officers with the Nigeria Police Force-National Cybercrime Center (NPF-NCCC)…

New York, May 24, 2024 — Nigerian authorities should drop their investigation into journalist Madu Onuorah and cease arresting journalists in connection with their work, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Friday. Armed police officers from Nigeria’s eastern Enugu and Ebonyi states arrested Onuorah, the publisher and editor-in-chief of Global Upfront Newspapers, at his home…

Abuja, May 20, 2024—Nigerian authorities should swiftly and comprehensively investigate the detention of freelance journalist Jamil Mabai by religious police in northern Katsina State and hold them to account, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Monday.  Mabai, who was on assignment for the privately owned Trust TV, had been invited to the offices of the Hisbah,…

Abuja, May 8, 2024—Authorities in Nigeria should immediately release journalist Daniel Ojukwu and stop intimidating and arresting members of the press who investigate the government’s spending of public funds, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Wednesday. On May 1, Ojukwu, a reporter with the privately owned Foundation for Investigative Journalism (FIJ), went missing and his…

Abuja, April 16, 2024—Nigerian authorities should immediately drop their investigation into the Foundation for Investigative Journalism (FIJ) and its founder, the award-winning undercover reporter, Fisayo Soyombo, and stop intimidating the chairperson of FIJ’s board of trustees, Bukky Shonibare, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Tuesday. On February 21, Soyombo published an investigation detailing how he…

On February 23, at least seven soldiers arrested and handcuffed journalist Dele Fasan and hit him with a gun as he filmed at the scene of a planned protest in Nigeria’s southern Delta State, according to news reports and Fasan, who spoke to CPJ by phone. Fasan, regional bureau chief for the privately owned Galaxy…

Abuja, March 21, 2024—The Nigerian military should swiftly and publicly account for the whereabouts of First News editor Segun Olatunji, who was taken by armed men identifying themselves as officers with the army, disclose any charges against him, and ensure his safety, said the Committee to Protect Journalists on Thursday. On March 15, around 15…

Abuja, March 7, 2024—Nigerian authorities must investigate and hold accountable the police officers who detained and assaulted journalist Kasarahchi Aniagolu, and ensure journalists can work without fear that they will be attacked or harassed while reporting the news. Police officers detained, slapped, bodily assaulted, and hit Aniagolu with a gun. A reporter with the privately…

Abuja, March 1, 2024–The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomed the February 14 decision by an appeal court in Nigeria’s western Kwara State acquitting journalists Gidado Yushau and Alfred Olufemi of criminal conspiracy and defamation, charges for which they were convicted last year, and reiterates the call for Nigerian authorities to reform their country’s laws to…

Abuja, February 22, 2024—Nigerian authorities must comply with a federal high court judgment ordering the government to investigate and hold accountable those responsible for attacking journalists in Nigeria, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Thursday.  In 2021 Nigerian local press freedom group Media Rights Agenda (MRA) filed a lawsuit requesting the court to compel the federal government…