These are dark days for Nigerian media. The murder of three journalists last weekend was a reminder of the dangers faced by truth-seekers in a country where bribery and corruption are rife.
Edo Ugbagwu (42) a court reporter with the Nation, was shot dead at his home in Lagos after men broke in and began arguing with him. According to Lawal Ogienagbon, a deputy editor at the Nation, Ugbagwu had not been working on any controversial stories and had received no threats.
On the same day, Nathan S Dabak (36) and Sunday Gyang Bwede (39) working for the Christian newspaper the Light Bearer, were stabbed to death while on their way to Jos, the central Nigerian city which has seen the deaths of hundreds of Christians and Muslims.
The killings were condemned by the Nigeria Union of Journalists.
Nigerian journalists have been targets over their reporting in the past. In the country’s most infamous case, Dele Giwa of Newswatch magazine, died after opening a letter bomb in 1986.The crime remains unsolved and many blame the nation’s security services under dictator Ibrahim Babangida, who recently announced he would run in next year’s presidential election.
The three murders last weekend contributed to the bloodiest month in a year for news media around the world, according to the International News Safety Institute. It said 17 news media staff died violently in April including Patient Chibeya, a Congolese journalist shot dead in front of his home by men in military fatigues. Last month also saw the loss of Cameroonian editor Germain Ngota in prison after allegedly being denied medical treatment. The institute is backing a call for one minute’s silence in newsrooms on Monday, World Press Freedom Day, to honour more than 1 500 journalists who have died working over the last 14 years.
The most recent World Press Freedom Review, published by the International Press Institute, made bleak reading for the continent, noting that at least 14 African journalists lost their lives in connection with their work in 2009.
“African journalists faced a vast array of violations of their right to press freedom and freedom of expression,” it said. “These included intimidation, harassment, threats, attacks, beatings, illegal detentions, arrests and imprisonment. Their equipment was confiscated and destroyed; many were forced to flee their home countries or stop reporting.
“Media houses were censored and sometimes shut down; their broadcast signals were jammed and copies of their publications seized. Newspapers, broadcasters and journalists alike faced spurious lawsuits. Many reporters were slapped with criminal charges, often for alleged defamation and sedition, and very often for covering corruption or the activities of security forces.” – guardian.co.uk