Two Nigerian journalists respond to the government’s ongoing Twitter ban
More than a month after Nigeria’s federal government suspended access to Twitter, CPJ’s review of local accounts found at least some run by media outlets have gone silent. Twitter was inaccessible when CPJ tried to visit it from Nigeria in mid-July. However, after the ban, Nigerian outlet The Guardian reported a huge spike in searches…
Nigerian broadcast regulator orders outlets to stop using Twitter amid nationwide block
Abuja, June 8, 2021 – Nigerian authorities should end their suspension of Twitter’s operations in Nigeria, not threaten to punish news outlets for using the platform, and allow the press to use social media networks freely, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Yesterday, the National Broadcasting Commission, the country’s broadcast regulator, issued a press…
Africa Independent Television team expelled from event featuring Nigerian President Buhari
On March 19, 2020, government authorities at the Digital Economy Complex in Abuja, Nigeria, expelled journalists from the privately owned broadcaster Africa Independent Television who were preparing to cover an event attended by President Muhammadu Buhari, according to a statement by Daar Communications PLC, the broadcaster’s parent company.
Nigerian police detain News Digest web developer, charge journalists
Nigerian police charged Gidado Yushau, the publisher of the privately owned News Digest news website, and freelance journalist Alfred Olufemi with criminal conspiracy and defamation on November 12, 2019, according to a copy of the charge sheet seen by CPJ. The next court date is scheduled for March 4, 2020, Olufemi told CPJ. If convicted,…
‘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…
CPJ welcomes release of Nigerian journalist Jones Abiri
New York, August 15, 2018–The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes the release today after over two years in detention of Jones Abiri, publisher and editor-in-chief of the Weekly Source newspaper. CPJ urges Nigerian authorities to drop all charges against Abiri and ensure those responsible for his over two years in detention without trial or family…
Jones Abiri finally in court; Nigeria must release him
New York, August 2, 2018–Nigerian authorities should release without delay Jones Abiri, publisher and editor in chief of the Weekly Source newspaper, and drop all charges against him, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Nigeria’s state security service, known as the DSS, arrested Abiri on July 21, 2016, and has imprisoned him since.
Nigerian president Buhari must ensure release of journalist Jones Abiri
The Committee to Protect Journalists and 20 other organizations call for the release of journalist Jones Abiri, who has been held by Nigeria’s Department of State Security (DSS) for nearly two years, and the DSS to be held accountable for its attacks against journalists in Nigeria.
As world leaders take to UNGA stage, CPJ highlights countries of concern
Press freedom records of Egypt, Russia, Iran, China, Nigeria, Mexico, Ecuador New York, September 25, 2015–Each year, the world’s leaders are invited to New York for the United Nations General Assembly, where they are given a platform to speak freely and openly. But while the leaders of many countries enjoy this privilege, their journalists back…