On Tuesday, January 17, The Publisher of National Trail Newspaper, Inuwa Bwala was arrested in Abuja by a team of the Nigeria Police, led by the AC Criminal Investigation Department, Borno Police Command and was moved to Maiduguri on Wednesday, January 18. Mr. Bwala, a former Borno state commissioner of …
Read More »Monthly Archives: January 2017
NUJ, SERAP Drag FG to UN over Clampdown on Journalists
Following the recent arrest and release of Dapo Olorunyomi, publisher of the online newspaper Premium Times, as well as the paper’s judiciary correspondent, Evelyn Okakwu, by men of the Nigeria police, the Nigerian Union of Journalists ( NUJ) and the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP ) have issued a …
Read More »MRA Kicks Off FOI Sectoral Series on Blackface Radio
MRA kicked off “An Hour with Media Rights Agenda” for the year 2017 with a five-part series on FOI and its application to different sectors in the society. The first edition in the series was on January 9, 2016 and the discussion centred on Freedom of Information and the Health …
Read More »MRA Sues Lagos Primary Health Care Board for Non-Compliance with FOI Act
Media Rights Agenda (MRA), has filed a suit at the Ikeja Judicial Division of the Lagos High Court against the Lagos State Primary Health Care Board over the Board’s failure to grant it access to details and copies of plans put in place to provide the Araromi Zion Estate in …
Read More »MRA Sues Lagos State Ministry of Health over FOI Request Denial
Media Rights Agenda (MRA) on December 9, 2016 filed a suit at the Ikeja Judicial Division of the Lagos State High Court against the State Ministry of Health over the refusal of the Ministry to provide the organization with information requested from it through a letter dated November 4, 2016. …
Read More »MRA Sues Ojodu Local Government for Denial of FOI Request
Media Rights Agenda (MRA) has instituted legal proceedings against the Ojodu Local Government Council in Lagos over its refusal to provide the organization with information it requested pursuant to the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act, 2011. MRA’s lawyer, Ms Chioma Nwaodike, filed the action at the Ikeja judicial division of …
Read More »Dapo Olorunyomi Arrested, Released After Intense Public Pressure
Veteran journalist and Managing Director of Premium Times, Mr. Dapo Olorunyomi, was arrested and detained for several hours by the Nigerian Police in Abuja, following the refusal of the online news medium to retract news stories about the Nigerian Army and its anti-terrorism operations, which have generated hot exchanges between …
Read More »Nomination Sought For UNESCO/Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize 2017
United Nations Economic, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) has called for nominations for the 2017 edition of the UNESCO/Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize. UNESCO is inviting the governments of member states, in consultation with their national commissions, international and regional professional and non-governmental organisations working in the fields of …
Read More »Police Arrest Publisher of Fresh News in Abuja
Officers of the Nigeria Police on January 13, 2017 arrested Desmond Utomwen, Publisher of Fresh News, an online newspaper, in his Abuja office at about 11.34am. Utomwen was accused of criminal defamation of character and threat to life and property. After the officers led by Anthony Enobakhare and ASP Abubakar …
Read More »AU, EU Pledge to Promote and Protect Freedom of Expression in the Digital Age
The African Union (AU) and the European Union (EU) have made a joint commitment to promote and protect freedom of expression and the right of access to information in the digital age. They also reiterated their commitment to jointly support a continental conference on Freedom of Expression in Africa in 2017. …
Read More »