Criticisms trail military invasion of Daily Trust offices

Condemnations are still trailing the military invasion of the offices of Daily Trust, report Yusuf Alli and Gbenga Omokhunu.

CONDEMNATIONS yesterday continued to trail the military invasion and occupation of the Abuja, Maiduguri and Lagos offices of Daily Trust Newspapers.

The International Press Institute (IPI), Media Rights Agenda (MRA) and Peoples Democratic Party presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar are among those who flayed the invasion.

The invading soldiers arrested the newspaper’s regional editor, Uthman Abubakar, and one of its reporters, Ibrahim Sawab, in Maiduguri.

Their action was reportedly taken in reaction to the newspaper’s report of the same day detailing how the Nigerian military assembled troops and equipment in preparation for an operation to retake Baga and five other towns in Borno State from Boko Haram insurgents.

In a protest letter to Information, Culture and Tourism Minister Lai Mohammed, the IPI described as regrettable that media freedom remained under attack in Nigeria.

It said the raid of the newspaper and the arrest of two journalists were “inappropriate, disproportionate and appear to constitute an attempt to silence independent media in the country.”

The IPI said there was no evidence to prove that the story complained of would endanger military lives or the security of military operations.

It urged the Federal Government to uphold the freedom and responsibility of any independent newspaper to inform readers of significant developments of public interest.

The Institute demanded the release of those arrested and the return of the computers taken from the newspaper’s offices.

The organisation said: “The International Press Institute (IPI), a global network of editors, media executives and journalists, is extremely concerned over the actions of the Nigerian armed forces against the Daily Trust newspaper on Sunday, January 6, 2019.

“The IPI network condemns the arrests of Daily Trust regional editor Uthman Abubakar and reporter Ibrahim Sawab in Maiduguri and the siege of the Daily Trust offices in Maiduguri and Abuja by the Nigerian Armed Forces.

“According to our information, soldiers arrested the two journalists and then entered the offices of the newspaper in Maiduguri and Abuja, seizing a number of computers. This is a clear attack on media freedom in a country which claims to uphold democratic principles.

“We understand that the Nigerian army has attempted to justify these actions by claiming that the Daily Trust’s publication of news about a planned operation by the armed forces in Borno region against Islamist militants had put the lives of army officials in danger and undermined national security.

“However, the authorities have provided no evidence that the information published by the Daily Trust would endanger military lives or the security of military operations to an extent that would outweigh the freedom and responsibility of any independent newspaper to inform readers of significant developments of public interest, of which the Nigerian government’s response to the activities of terrorist organisations is undoubtedly one.”

IPI said the raid of the newspaper and the arrest of two journalists were “inappropriate, disproportionate and appear to constitute an attempt to silence independent media in the country.”

It added: “Moreover, the army’s actions in raiding the Daily Trust’s offices and arresting two of its journalists are inappropriate and disproportionate and appear to constitute an attempt to silence independent media in the country.

“We would like to mention here that the Nigerian security services appear to have adopted a habit of arresting and detaining journalists for their investigative reporting on perceived sensitive subjects.

“In August last year, the security forces arrested Samuel Ogundipe, a journalist with the Premium Times, for his report about a letter sent by the Inspector-General of Police to the vice president detailing actions of the former director of the State Security Service. The police demanded that Ogundipe reveal his sources.

““During the IPI World Congress in June 2018, we raised the issue of the illegal detention of journalist Jonas Abiri, which the government initially denied.

“However, the government was later forced to produce Abiri before a court after two years spent behind bars. Eventually, Abiri was freed by the court.

“Your Excellency, we request you to address this breach of press freedom by the army and ensure that the army releases the regional editor of the Daily Trust and returns the computers taken from the newspaper’s offices.

“We hope that you will keep the promise that President Muhammadu Buhari and you made at the IPI World Congress to uphold media freedom and create a conducive climate for independent media to thrive in Nigeria.”

The Media Adviser to Atiku Paul Ibe, in a statement, said: “We are alarmed at the military invasion of the offices of Media Trust Limited, Publishers of Daily Trust newspapers. We are further outraged by the arrest of their regional editor, Uthman Abubakar and a reporter, Ibrahim Sawab.

“We totally condemn these actions and call on President Muhammadu Buhari to immediately call his forces to order and end their attack on the media and the freedom of the press.

“This is a travesty, the likes of which we have not seen since the heinous days of military rule. Atiku Abubakar and other pro-democrats did not risk their lives fighting for democracy for this to happen.

“This is unacceptable. The media is not only a partner in progress to the government, but they are also a quasi-arm of government being, as Edmund Burke propounded, the Fourth Estate of the Realm.

“The particular use of heavily armed soldiers also shows the abuse of scarce resources, which has exacerbated the insecurity currently plaguing Nigeria.”

The MRA, in a statement, called on the government to take punitive action against the perpetrators to end the cycle of abuse of power by military officers.

It hailed President Muhammadu Buhari for his “swift response to the unlawful and unjustifiable action of the military” in directing the soldiers to immediately vacate the premises of the newspaper.

Read also: IPI condemns invasion of Daily Trust

MRA’s Programme Director Ayode Longe said: “It is imperative that the President takes further action to discourage this sort of highhandedness in future as anything short of punitive action against the perpetrators of the act would amount to encouraging impunity.  We, therefore, call on the President to demonstrate his commitment to the rule of law and disdain for abuse of power and impunity.

“Whatever offence the newspaper or its reporters may have committed, if indeed they committed any offence, there is a presumption under our constitution that a person is innocent until proven guilty by a court of competent jurisdiction.

“The military has, by its actions, judged, condemned and carried out its judgment on the newspaper and its reporters, having made itself the accuser and constituted itself into a law court and the judgment enforcer. This is strange in a democracy and does not portray the government as a respecter of the rule of law.”

MRA called on the government to order a thorough investigation into the raid to identify the perpetrators as well as those who ordered it and prosecute them accordingly.