In Nigeria, at least 56 journalists attacked and harassed as protests roil region
“He hit me with a gun butt,” Premium Times newspaper reporter Yakubu Mohammed told the Committee to Protect Journalists, recalling how he was struck by a police officer while reporting on cost-of-living protests in Nigeria’s capital of Abuja on August 1. Two other officers beat him, seized his phone, and threw him in a police…
Law enforcement and unidentified assailants attack Nigerian journalists and media offices during protests
Abuja, October 26, 2020 – Nigerian authorities should conduct a swift and transparent investigation into recent attacks on journalists and media outlets and ensure that the press can cover ongoing protests safely, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Since October 5, police and demonstrators have attacked at least 12 journalists covering protests against police…
Nigerian police arrest, detain 2 journalists in Ebonyi state
[Editors’ Note: This article has been changed in its headline and fifth paragraph to reflect the Ebonyi governor’s more recent statements.] Abuja, April 24, 2020 — Authorities in Nigeria should stop harassing journalists Peter Okutu and Chijioke Agwu, and must cease using COVID-19-related laws to stifle the press, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.
Nigerian court orders journalist facing false reporting charge to be detained
New York, July 17, 2017–Nigerian authorities should drop all charges against Luka Binniyat and release the journalist from jail immediately, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. A judge ordered the journalist to be detained on charges of “breach of public peace” and false reporting over an article he wrote for the daily, Vanguard, according…
In Nigeria, journalist beaten outside court, has camera seized
At least 10 people, including officers of the Nigerian Prisons Service, allegedly beat Emmanuel Elebeke, a journalist with the independent daily Vanguard, at the premises of a high court in the capital Abuja on November 12, 2015, according to news reports. The reporter, who also takes photographs for the paper, told CPJ he was attacked…
Newspaper columnist kidnapped from her home in Nigeria
Abuja, September 2, 2015–A Nigerian newspaper columnist was abducted from her home early Sunday, according to news reports. The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Nigerian authorities to do their utmost to find Donu Kogbara, establish a motive for the abduction, and apprehend and prosecute the perpetrators.
In election year, Nigeria’s press feeling the pressure
“Nobody is safe. Not the voter, not the journalist, not anybody!” The fears of Femi Adesina, president of the Nigerian Guild of Editors, is echoed by stakeholders and observers of Nigeria’s general election. Amid the tension in the run up to presidential and federal parliamentary elections on March 28, and governor and state parliamentary elections…
Nigeria targets independent newspapers
Nigerian authorities have been waging widespread attacks on nearly a dozen independent newspapers under the cover of fighting terrorism. By last weekend, no fewer than 10 newspapers had their operations nationwide disrupted, leading to the loss of hundreds of thousands of newspaper sales.
Nigerian military seizes leading newspapers
New York, June 6, 2014–The Nigerian military this morning confiscated or destroyed copies of at least four leading newspapers, Punch, Leadership, Vanguard, and The Nation, around the country, according to news reports. A defense official claimed that authorities were looking for “materials with grave security implications,” the reports said.
In Nigeria, Boko Haram threatens attacks on media
A radical militant Islamist group released an 18-minute video on May 1, 2012, that threatened attacks on at least 14 local and international news outlets, according to news reports. In the video, Boko Haram, a group seeking the imposition of Sharia law in northern Nigeria, accused the outlets of biased reporting and crimes against Islam…