(CCPJ/IFEX) – On 28 September 1998, the CCPJ sent via courier over 215 letters signed by Executive Director Wayne Sharpe and other members and supporters of the CCPJ to Gen. Abdulsalam Abubakar, calling for the immediate release of Niran Malaolu, Editor of “The Diet” newspaper. In the covering letter, CCPJ also expressed its concerns for […]
(CCPJ/IFEX) – On 28 September 1998, the CCPJ sent via courier over 215
letters signed by Executive Director Wayne Sharpe and other members and
supporters of the CCPJ to Gen. Abdulsalam Abubakar, calling for the
immediate release of Niran Malaolu, Editor of “The Diet” newspaper. In the
covering letter, CCPJ also expressed its concerns for two other journalists,
Okina Deesor of Radio Rivers, who was detained in July 1996, and Chinedu
Offoara of “The Guardian” last seen in May 1996, when he was taken into
custody. The full text of the letter follows:
General Abdulsalam Abubakar
President of the Provisional Ruling Council
State House
Abuja, Nigeria
Fax: +234 95 232 138
17 September 1998
Your Excellency,
On behalf of the Canadian Committee to Protect Journalists, I am writing to
strongly protest the continued detention of Niran Malaolu, Editor of “The
Diet” newspaper, who is serving a 15-year sentence in prison for reporting
on a coup. While we are very happy to hear of the release of Chris Anyanwu
of “The Sunday Magazine”, Ben Charles Obi of “Weekend Classique”, Kunle
Ajibade of “TheNews”, George Mbah of “Tell”, and other journalists such as
Babafemi Ojudu of “Tempo” and “The News” and Moshood Fayemiwo of “Razor”, we
remain deeply concerned about the fate of journalists such as Malaolu who
remain in detention.
Malaolu was originally sentenced to life imprisonment on 28 April by the
Special Military Tribunal (SMT) which tried persons allegedly involved in a
coup plot the government claimed to have uncovered on 21 December 1997, had
his sentence reduced to 15 years in prison by the Provisional Ruling Council
(PRC). The PRC commuted the sentence after deliberating on the verdicts of
the Special Military Tribunal (SMT), headed by Major-General Victor Malu,
which tried the alleged coup plotters.
Malaolu was arrested on 28 December 1997 along with three of his colleagues
at “The Diet”. The three others were later released, but Malaolu was
arraigned on 14 February 1998 along with 27 others at the inauguration of
the Special Military Tribunal. He was convicted of “information gathering”
and implication in the alleged December 1997 coup plot.
I’d like to point out that Malaolu’s case is eerily similar to the one that
sent Anyanwu, Ajibade, Mbah, and Obi – popularly known as “the innocent
four” to jail on a 15-year sentence. We hope that you will do everything in
your power to encourage the release of Malaolu, as you have for a number of
other journalists who we believe were wrongly accused and sent to prison.
Yours sincerely,
Wayne Sharpe
Executive Director
