DECEMBER 23, 2005 Updated: January 19, 2006 Klem Ofuokwu, Rhythm 93.7 FM Cleopatra Taiwo, Rhythm 93.7 FM IMPRISONED, LEGAL ACTION On January 3, two radio journalists were released from prison after paying bail in the southern city of Port Harcourt. Ofuokwu and Taiwo, both of whom work for the private radio station Rhythm 93.7 FM,…
New York, December 23, 2005—The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by the indictment of two Nigerian radio journalists for airing an erroneous report of a bridge collapse, which their station retracted. Klem Ofuokwu and Cleopatra Taiwo, journalists for the private radio station Rhythm 93.7 FM in the southeastern city of Port Harcourt, were remanded…
Your Excellency: The Committee to Protect Journalists is deeply troubled by the continued imprisonment of Owei Kobina Sikpi, publisher of the small, privately owned Weekly Star. He was arrested by agents of the State Security Service (SSS) in the southern city of Port Harcourt on October 11. He was later transferred to the central prison in Port Harcourt, where he remains. Sikpi has been imprisoned for his work longer than any other journalist since Your Excellency was first elected in 1999, according to CPJ records.
NOVEMBER 30, 2005 Posted January 4, 2006 Glory FM, Bayelsa Broadcasting Corporation CENSORED Security forces under the authority of the federal government stormed and sealed off Glory FM, a radio station owned by the Bayelsa state government in its capital, Yenagoa. Broadcasts were immediately cut, according to news reports and the Lagos-based press freedom group…
OCTOBER 24, 2005 Posted: December 8, 2005 African Independent Television RayPower FM CENSORED Nigerian authorities ordered the country’s leading independent broadcast network off the air, in part because the network’s reports on the October 22 Bellview Airlines crash included details that had not been officially released. Daar Communications group’s African Independent Television (AIT) and its…
New York, October 24, 2005—Nigerian authorities ordered the country’s leading independent broadcast network off the air today, in part because the network’s reports on Saturday’s deadly Bellview Airlines crash included details that had not been officially released. Daar Communications group’s African Independent Television (AIT) and its radio network, RayPower FM, complied with the order but…
New York, October 13, 2005—The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by the arrest of a newspaper publisher by Nigeria’s State Security Service (SSS). Owei Kobina Sikpi, publisher of the tabloid Weekly Star in the southern city of Port Harcourt, has been held without charge since Tuesday, the paper’s editor, Obinna Ahiaidu told CPJ. He…
OCTOBER 11, 2005 Posted October 17, 2005 Owei Kobina Sikpi, Weekly Star IMPRISONED Sikpi, publisher of the tabloid Weekly Star, was arrested by Nigeria’s State Security Service (SSS) in the southern city of Port Harcourt, and held without charge, the paper’s editor, Obinna Ahiaidu told CPJ. He said the arrest was over an article that…
New York, August 26, 2005—The Committee to Protect Journalists expressed outrage at a raid by the State Security Service (SSS) on the Lagos-based weekly The Exclusive. Fourteen SSS agents raided the tabloid’s offices on August 19 and confiscated over 200 copies of its latest edition. They also detained and harassed vendors of the newspaper, local…