Security operatives behind attacks against journalists in 2024 – Report

An annual state of media freedom report found that security agencies, including the police, military, and intelligence services, were responsible for the highest number of attacks against journalists in 2024.

The 137-page report was released on Tuesday by the Media Right Agenda (MRA), Idowu Adewale, the communication officer, said in a statement sent to PREMIUM TIMES.

MRA is a non-profit organisation based in Lagos, Nigeria, working on freedom of expression, media freedom, information access, media development, and internet freedom and governance.

The report titled: “Media Freedom Under Threat: The State of Media Freedom and Journalists’ Safety in Nigeria 2024” noted that 45 out of the total number of 69 attacks against journalists were carried out by law enforcement and security agencies between 1 January and 31 October. This represents approximately 65 per cent.

According to the report, attacks against the media in 2024 were higher compared to 2022 and 2023.

Out of 64 attacks against journalists recorded in 2022, law enforcement and security agencies were responsible for 29 of them, representing approximately 45 per cent, while they were responsible for 34 out of the 77 attacks against journalists in 2023, representing 44 per cent.

“It is ironic that the institutions tasked with upholding the rule of law as well as ensuring the safety and security of citizens, including journalists, have instead become the instruments of oppression against the media,” MRA’s programme officer, John Gbadamosi was quoted as saying.

“It is worse still that the pervasive culture of impunity which has ensured a lack of accountability for past attacks has now emboldened these perpetrators to the extent that we are now seeing them at their most horrendous.”

Report

According to the statement, the report documented in detail 21 cases of assault and battery against journalists during the first 10 months of the year, including 17 cases of arbitrary arrests and detention and three cases of raids on homes and offices of journalists.

Others include eight cases of threat to life, two cases of harassment, six cases of kidnapping, five instances when journalists were obstructed from performing their duties, one journalist killed and six cases of other forms of attacks.

In addition to law enforcement and security forces, the report also identified other groups responsible for attacks on journalists. These include government officials (four attacks), the court system (two rights violations), thugs or criminals (seven attacks), four unidentified armed individuals, and six other unidentified individuals.

Mr Gbadamosi, however, identified a positive development in the year, observing that “In recent years, crippling fines imposed by the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) on broadcast stations for alleged violations of the Nigeria Broadcasting Code has been a recurring feature in the threat landscape.

“But 2024 recorded zero fines imposed on broadcast stations by NBC, apparently due to court judgments secured by MRA in May 2023 and January 2024 forbidding NBC from further imposing such fines on broadcasters. We commend the NBC for complying with the court’s orders.”

In addition, he said, the year also witnessed another positive development as the court ordered an inquiry into the death of Pelumi Onifade, a 20-year-old reporter with Gboah TV who was reportedly arrested by police officers attached to a Lagos State taskforce while he was covering the EndSARS protests in 2020, and was later found dead at a mortuary in Ikorodu area of the state.

Mr Gbadamosi described the development as “unprecedented and a significant step toward accountability and justice” in cases involving attacks on journalists in Nigeria, adding that MRA is very proud to have instituted the wrongful death suit against the police and the Lagos State Government, which resulted in the judgment of a Federal High Court in Lagos directing an investigation into the circumstances leading to the journalist’s death.

Despite these positive developments, the situation for journalists and media in Nigeria remains deeply troubling. Mr Gbadamosi stressed the urgent need for protective measures for journalists and for holding those who attack them responsible.

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He said the measures should include improving Nigeria’s laws to protect journalists better and ensuring that all attacks against them are promptly investigated, with the perpetrators prosecuted and punished.

According to Mr Gbadamosi, without meaningful action to safeguard media freedom in Africa’s largest democracy, the cycle of violence and other forms of attacks against journalists, as well as impunity for such attacks, will persist, further undermining Nigeria’s democracy and the public’s right to know.