The Nigeria Union of Journalists, NUJ, says it will drag the Lagos Magistrate, Mrs. Aderonke Oshoniyi and the Acting Inspector-General of Police, Mr Mohammed Abubakar, to court over the harassment and detention of 13 journalists on the orders of the magistrate in Ikeja, Lagos, on April 4.
According to The Lagos State Council of NUJ Chairman, Mr Deji Elumoye, who disclosed this, “We will not allow the ugly incident to go unchallenged and this is why we are heading to court. The detained journalists include, Wale Busari, a judicial correspondent with Silverbird Television; Francis Iwuchukwu of Peoples Daily; Henry Ojeluh of PMNews/The News; Yejide Gbenga-Ogundare of Nigerian Tribune; Solomon Asowata of the News Agency of Nigeria and Akinwale Akintunde of Thisday. Others are Yetunde Ayobami-Ojo of The Guardian; Nurudeen Oyewole of Daily Trust, Shola Shoyele, Channels Television; Gbenga Shoyele, Nigerian Compass; Ranti Thomas, Moment Newspapers; Bisi Onanuga, The Nation; and Yemi Adebanjo, News Star newspapers.”
The chairman further stated that “for so long now, Nigerian journalists have been harassed, brutalised and maimed by security agents, whose duty is to guide and protect innocent citizens.”
Noting that the Constitution of the country allows for freedom of the press, the Union emphasized that members of the fourth estate of the realm should not be hounded by the judiciary, which is the third estate in the realm because it is more or less like “man’s inhumanity to man.”
The union also noted that, it was unthinkable that despite, the efforts of journalists to bring the activities of the judiciary to the fore, the Magistrates are still using security agents to oppress the journalists.
“We are worried that the action of the Magistrate, if unchecked, would rub-off on the judiciary, which is highly regarded as the hope of the common man. Instead of harassing innocent journalists with policemen, they should use the same policemen to stem the tide of insecurity of lives and property in the country,” the chairman said.
