(RSF/IFEX) – RSF has voiced impatience and anger at the Nigerian authorities after a 1 September 2005 murder attempt in Benin City on Peter Iwelomen, editor of the community magazine “Esan”, in the latest in a series of violent attacks on journalists in Nigeria. “We call on President Olusegun Obasanjo to finally start taking this […]
(RSF/IFEX) – RSF has voiced impatience and anger at the Nigerian authorities after a 1 September 2005 murder attempt in Benin City on Peter Iwelomen, editor of the community magazine “Esan”, in the latest in a series of violent attacks on journalists in Nigeria.
“We call on President Olusegun Obasanjo to finally start taking this violence seriously,” the organisation said. “Nigerian journalists have had to cope with police violence and a chaotic society for years, but our concern mounts with this kind of attack, the likes of which we have not seen for some time.”
RSF added that it wanted the police to make a special effort to solve the murder attempt and protect Iwelomen.
Iwelomen left his Benin City office at around 8:00 p.m. (local time) on 1 September and was driving home when he noticed he was being followed by another car. He accelerated, but the other car gave chase. The gunmen opened fire from a close distance, hitting his car, but failing to hit Iwelomen himself.
The attempt on Iwelomen’s life comes less than a week after an armed attack on Simon Ebegbulem and Osaro Okhomina, who are both Benin City correspondents of one of the biggest Lagos dailies, “The Vanguard”. Five men brandishing pistols burst into their office at around 8:00 p.m. (local time) on 27 August, held all the staff at gunpoint and roughed up the two journalists, accusing them of writing lies. They eventually left.
Ebegbulem and Okhomina, who notified their office of the incident, said they did not know the attackers’ precise motive.
