Articles by Media Rights Agenda (MRA)
Journalist beaten, stripped naked
(MRA/IFEX) – On 25 October 2004, Owei Sikpi, of the “Weekly Star” newspaper, based in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital, was assaulted by thugs allegedly acting on instructions from Steven Diver, chairman of the Southern Ijaw Local Government Area in Bayelsa State. The thugs, who were reportedly backed by anti-riot policemen, introduced themselves as […]
Military court bars journalists from naval officers’ trial
(MRA/IFEX) – On 1 November 2004, the Nigerian Navy court martial set up to try three senior naval officers for alleged complicity in the loss of a detained oil bunkering ship, the MT. Africa Pride, ordered journalists to stay away from its proceedings as of 2 November. No reason was given for the ban. On […]
Detained editor released
(MRA/IFEX) – Isaac Umunna, an editorial consultant for the Lagos-based weekly “Global Star” and general editor of the London-based magazine “Africa Today”, was released on the afternoon of 16 September 2004. He had been arrested on 9 September and detained by Nigeria’s intelligence agency, the State Security Service (SSS). On 15 September, Umunna was driven […]
Detained editor transferred to unknown location
(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 […]
Parliament suspends consideration of controversial media bill
(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 […]
Security agents detain editor
(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 […]
Security agents raid newspaper office, arrest editor’s wife
(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”, […]
Magazine circulation manager arrested, other journalists go into hiding
(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, […]