(RSF/IFEX) – Silvia Sansoni, a journalist who works for the British weekly news magazine “The Economist”, was expelled from Nigeria on 19 February 2004 after being taken to Lagos airport under police escort and placed on a Paris-bound flight. RSF expressed shock over the incident, which the organisation considers to be a press freedom violation. […]
(RSF/IFEX) – Silvia Sansoni, a journalist who works for the British weekly news magazine “The Economist”, was expelled from Nigeria on 19 February 2004 after being taken to Lagos airport under police escort and placed on a Paris-bound flight.
RSF expressed shock over the incident, which the organisation considers to be a press freedom violation. RSF said, however, “We are not really surprised. The Nigerian authorities have been treating the foreign press with contempt for several years and have never stopped making the lives of foreign correspondents very difficult.”
Sansoni was working as a freelancer for “The Economist” and the American magazine “Forbes”. The Nigerian authorities accused her of “breaking immigration laws” and “abusing her accreditation.” Sansoni, who has dual United States (US) and Italian citizenship, said she was in possession of a valid visa at the time of her expulsion.
Information Minister Chukwuemeka Chikelu said Sansoni’s expulsion was not linked to her reporting and noted that many other foreign reporters continue to work normally in the country.
RSF recalled that a team from the US cable news network CNN was almost expelled from Nigeria in October 2003 after being arrested on arrival at Lagos airport.
“The Nigerian government appears to be irritated by critical reports that appear in Europe and the United States,” the organisation said. “If the authorities had reason to believe that the journalist was not working legally, they could have resolved the situation without resorting to such a serious step as expulsion,” RSF added.
In October, CNN’s West African correspondent Jeff Koinange and his cameraman Simon Munene were held for several hours at Lagos airport after they arrived on a flight from Ghana. Customs officials told them that they would be expelled because of orders “from high up.” The cameraman was struck as he tried to take photographs of the scene. Embarrassed by the incident, the government finally intervened to prevent the journalists from being expelled.
