Nigeria

(MRA/IFEX) – Isaac Umunna, an editorial consultant for the Lagos-based weekly “Global Star” and general editor of the London-based magazine “Africa Today”, who was arrested and detained on 9 September 2004 by Nigeria’s intelligence agency, the State Security Service (SSS), has been moved to an unknown location. Umunna had been detained at the SSS’s Lagos […]

(MRA/IFEX) – Nigeria’s National Assembly has stopped further deliberations on a draft law that would impose sanctions, jail terms, fines and suspensions on journalists and media establishments found guilty of sensational reporting on violent conflicts, parliamentary or inter-governmental disputes, natural disasters and other “negative trends and tendencies”. The chairperson of the House of Representatives Committee […]

(MRA/IFEX) – Nigeria’s intelligence agency, the State Security Service (SSS), has arrested and detained Isaac Umunna, an editorial consultant for the Lagos-based weekly “Global Star” and general editor of the London-based magazine “Africa Today”. Umunna was arrested and detained on 9 September 2004 when he honoured an SSS directive asking him to report to the […]

(MRA/IFEX) – On 8 September 2004, security agents from the Lagos State headquarters of the State Security Service (SSS) raided the office of the “Global Star”, a weekly newspaper based in Lagos, and arrested the wife of its editorial consultant, Isaac Umunna. Umunna, who is also the general editor of the London-based magazine “Africa Today”, […]

(CPJ/IFEX) – In an 8 September 2004 letter to Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo, CPJ expressed deep concern over an alarming government attack against the Lagos-based news magazine “Insider Weekly”, saying the attack is fundamentally at odds with the most basic democratic principles. Members of the State Security Service (SSS) recently raided the publication, arrested employees, […]

(MRA/IFEX) – On 5 September 2004, one day after State Security Service (SSS) officers raided the editorial offices of the “Insider Weekly” magazine in Lagos and sealed them off, they returned to arrest the magazine’s circulation manager, Cyril Mbamalu. Mbamalu was taken to the SSS Lagos State headquarters in Shangisha, on the outskirts of Lagos, […]

(MRA/IFEX) – On 4 September 2004, State Security Service (SSS) officers raided the editorial offices of “The Insider Weekly” news magazine, based in Lagos, and arrested its production manager, Raphael Olatoye, after sealing up the offices. The security agency later accused the magazine of treason, sedition and subversion over a string of articles critical of […]

(MRA/IFEX) – Nigeria’s federal Legislature, the National Assembly, is considering a draft law that would impose sanctions, jail-terms, fines and suspension for media outlets found guilty of sensational reporting on violent conflicts, parliamentary or inter-governmental disputes, natural disasters and other “negative trends and tendencies”. The draft law, entitled the “Journalism Enhancement Bill”, is presently before […]

(MRA/IFEX) – On 21 July 2004, Uja Emmanuel, a correspondent for “The Sun” newspaper in Makurdi, the capital of Benue state, in north central Nigeria, was assaulted and his camera and tape recorder were destroyed by police officers acting on orders of the assistant commissioner of police (ACP), H.C. Ugwu. Emmanuel was assaulted when he […]

(MFWA/IFEX) – On 9 July 2004, police in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, southern Nigeria, arrested and detained two news magazine reporters, Lawson Heyford of “The Source” and Okafor Ofiebor of “The News”. The journalists were arrested for their alleged association with a man identified as Pastor Joe Alatoru, who had accused two senior police officers […]

(MRA/IFEX) – On 9 July 2004, the police in Kano State, northwestern Nigeria, wrote to a Kano Chief Magistrate Court to withdraw the “false publication” charges levelled against Kola Oyelere, the Kano State correspondent for “Nigerian Tribune” newspaper, who was arrested on 4 July.

(MRA/IFEX) – On 8 July 2004, police in Kano State, northwestern Nigeria, released Kola Oyelere, the Kano State correspondent for the privately-owned “Nigerian Tribune” newspaper. Oyelere was arrested by police on 4 July on charges of publishing false information. Oyelere was initially declared wanted on 4 July and arrested later the same day. He was […]

(MRA/IFEX) – On 4 July 2004, Kola Oyelere, the Kano State correspondent for the privately-owned “Nigerian Tribune” newspaper, was arrested by police in Kano State, northwestern Nigeria. He was detained, reportedly tortured and subsequently charged with publishing false information by a Kano Chief Magistrate Court on 5 July. Oyelere was charged with publishing false information […]

(MRA/IFEX) – On 25 June 2004, Gbenga Faturoti, a correspondent for the “Daily Independent” newspaper in Osun State, south-west Nigeria, was beaten to near unconsciousness by a group of policemen in Osogbo, the state capital. Faturoti was subsequently arrested and briefly detained. He was assaulted by the policemen on the orders of O. C. Agboromoti, […]

(MISA/IFEX) – The following is a joint MISA and Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) alert: A lawsuit for alleged libel has been filed with the Abuja High Court against The Sun Publishing Limited of Nigeria and its senior editors. The journalists named in the suit are Mike Awoyinfa, managing director and editor-in-chief, Louis Odion, […]

(MISA/IFEX) – The following is a joint MISA and Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) alert: On 27 March 2004, Joseph Nafoh, a correspondent for the African Independent Television (AIT) station, was assaulted by thugs allegedly acting on orders from Boniface Kobani, a councillorship candidate for the ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in the Gokina […]