Gunmen kill Nigerian journalist

Gunmen shot dead a Nigerian newspaper journalist after forcing their way into his home in the commercial capital, Lagos, his newspaper said on Monday.

Edo Sule Ugbagwu, a 42-year-old court reporter with the Nation daily, was shot several times in the head at close range on Saturday evening.

The murder was the latest in a series to hit journalists in Nigeria, where a media association said it had uncovered a plot to assassinate eight reporters in one state alone.

In September 2009, a senior editor with the influential Guardian in Lagos, Bayo Ohu, was gunned down.

Two senior journalists with ThisDay, Godwin Agbroko and Abayomi Ogundeji, were shot in similar circumstances in 2006 and 2008 in Lagos.

A media association in south-western Ogun State claimed on Sunday it had uncovered a plot to assassinate eight journalists in the state.

“We are alarmed that hapless journalists who are doing their jobs could become the subject of such cowardly threats,” the Gateway Media Front said in a statement.

It called on the police and government to ensure the safety of journalists in the state.—AFP