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Tag: International Press Institute

  • DSS removes Nigerian journalist from watch list, after 38 years

    DSS removes Nigerian journalist from watch list, after 38 years

    The Director-General, Department of State Service (DSS), Yusuf Bichi, says the service has removed a journalist, Lanre Arogundade, from its watch list in which his name featured for 38 years.

    Bichi said this when a delegation from the Nigerian chapter of the International Press Institute (IPI Nigeria) visited him in Abuja.

    The Secretary of IPI Nigeria, Ahmed Shekarau, in a statement on Thursday, said the visit was part of the organisation’s ongoing high-level engagements on the safety of journalists and press freedom in Nigeria.

    Shekarau said that Arogundade was on Feb. 10 intercepted and detained by officers of the DSS on his arrival at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos, from Banjul, Gambia.

    He said the Director of the Lagos-based International Press Centre (IPC) went to train journalists on conflict reporting.

    Speaking on the circumstances leading to the interception of the journalist on his arrival in Lagos, Bichi said the Service acted based on a decades-long watchlist, which demanded that Arogundade should be quizzed whenever he returned from a foreign country.

    He said the journalist was put on the list during his days as the President of the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) between 1984 and 1985.

    The DSS boss said after Arogundade was initially removed, there arose another case of mistaken identity triggered by a request by the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP).

    According to him, the service doesn’t intercept people willfully at airports, we do so based on requests from other government agencies who may have issues with the persons affected.

    Bichi emphasised the need for close collaboration between the media and the service.

    He said it was necessary to address many of the ‘misconceptions’, because their mission was peace, adding that the service was too friendly to be antagonistic toward the media.

    Earlier, the President of IPI Nigeria, Musikilu Mojeed, lamented the rising incidents of violation of the rights of journalists while performing their constitutional duties.

    Mojeed said that journalists had the duty of upholding the people’s right to know and holding governments, individuals and corporations accountable.

    Citing the 2021 World Press Freedom Index by Reporters Without Borders, he lamented the ranking of Nigeria as one of West Africa’s most dangerous and difficult countries for journalists.

    According to him, journalists are often spied on, attacked, arbitrarily arrested or even killed.

    He reiterated the commitment of IPI Nigeria in ensuring credible and independent journalism, media freedom, freedom of speech and the free flow of news and information.

    According to him, journalists will always stand firm and resist any measure or action that threatens these matters and principles for which we stand.

    He said all oppressive and repressive policies and actions directed at the media must be resisted so as not to allow authoritarianism, poor governance and corruption to thrive in Nigeria.

    “As we all know, Section 22 of the Nigerian Constitution is clear in compelling “the press, radio, television and other agencies of the mass media to, at all time, be free to uphold the responsibility and accountability of the government to the people,” he said.

    He appealed to the DSS DG to educate and prevail on officers and men of the Service all over the country to desist from harassment of journalists.

    He also urged them not to allow themselves to be used by politicians, public office holders and other individuals who happen to be on the wrong side of media reporting.

    According to him, such aggrieved individuals should be advised to seek redress in court instead of coming to the DSS.

    The president informed his host that IPI Nigeria would henceforth demand accountability in any case of harassment of journalists in the country.

    “For a start, we are opening a black book to document all security personnel and other individuals involved in the harassment of journalists in Nigeria.

    “The records so gathered will be shared periodically with embassies, and all relevant international and human rights groups across the world.

    “We will use the records for intense advocacy with a view to getting perpetrators to be held accountable one way or another,” he said.

  • 2023: Buhari’s govt. not a threat to media – Lai Mohammed

    2023: Buhari’s govt. not a threat to media – Lai Mohammed

    Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, has reiterated that the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari is not and will not be a threat to the media.

    Lai Mohammed gave the reassurance on Tuesday in Abuja when a delegation from International Press Institute (IPI) Nigeria chapter, paid him a courtesy visit.

    He said Nigeria had one of the most vibrant and free press in the world and the administration was not about to stifle press freedom or deny anyone his or her constitutionally-guaranteed rights.

    “If anything, it is the government that is at the mercy of the media.

    “After all, this must be one of the very few countries in the world where a section of the media can refuse to recognise popular sovereignty.

    “How does one describe a situation in which a President who was duly elected by millions of Nigeria is wilfully stripped of that title, President, and then cheekily cloaked in the garb of a dictator by playing up his military title?

    “Despite that abuse of press freedom, those doing that have continued to practice their profession without hindrance.

    “Ours must also be one of the few countries in the world where a reputable medium will report fake news and, when called out, will not retract or apologise,’’ he said.

    Mohammed said he was delighted that serious organisations such as IPI were taking the issues of not just press freedom but also ethics and fake news, among others very seriously.

    He charged the institute to take holistic look at the issues concerning ethics, regulation, sustainability, credibility and fake news.

    “For example, on the issue of ethics, is it part of the ethics of journalism for a media organisation to function like an opposition party, seeing nothing good in the government of the day and only reporting bad news?

    “The last time I checked, the constitutionally-guaranteed role of the media here in Nigeria is that of a watchdog, not an opposition,’’ he said.

    The minister noted that some people had misconstrued their efforts to ensure responsible use of social media as an attempt to tamper with press freedom or threaten independent journalism.

    He reassured that they did not harbour such intentions to stifle press freedom.

    Mohammed commended the media organisations that had set up platforms to fact-check stories that circulate in the media space contending that “it is one sure way to contribute to the fight against fake news and misinformation.’’

    The minister dismissed the reports by Reporters Without Borders which recorded Nigeria’s decline in global press freedom.

    He attributed the preponderance of fake news and misinformation, failure to retract them when the truth came out, misuse of social media by quacks who, turned journalists and the handiwork of some naysayers for the rating.

    Mohammed, therefore, admonished media practitioners, particularly the traditional media not to join the bandwagon in churning out news without verification and fact-checking.

    Earlier, the leader of the delegation, Mr Musikilu Mojeed said to they were in the ministry to engage on how they could collaborate to make Nigeria a better operating environment for journalists, and the media, especially as the 2023 elections season approaches.

    Mojeed, the IPI Nigeria chapter, President and Editor-in-Chief of “Premium Times’’ said they were worried about the declining press freedom records of the country and ready to collaborate to make it better.

    As part of the institute’s contribution, he disclosed that they had decided to open a black book to document every individual whose action or inaction encouraged or allowed harassment of journalists and the media in the country.