Attacks

A chief magistrate court in Abuja has dismissed the case against an African Independent Television (AIT) reporter, Mr. Amaechi Anakwe, on charges of character defamation brought by, controversial Police Commissioner, Joseph Mbu.  Anakwe was arrested and detained for referring to the Assistant Inspector General (AIG) of Police, Mr. Joseph Mbu …

Media Rights Agenda (MRA) today condemned last month the renewed onslaught on the Nigerian Press by the Goodluck Jonathan Administration with the arrest of newspaper workers, detention of media vehicles, confiscation of thousands of copies of newspapers and other forms of harassment in different parts of the country. In a …

From June 6-9, 2014, there have been different incidents of attacks on media freedom in Nigeria. The attacks have come in the form of seizure of publications of The Punch, The Nation, Daily Trust, Leadership and Vanguard newspapers. There have been arrest of newspaper workers and detention of vehicles belonging …

Armed men brandishing various weapons, including guns, clubs and machetes, on May 24, 2014, attacked a crew of African Independent Television (AIT) in Ikere Ekiti, Ekiti State. The armed men smashed and destroyed the vehicles, cameras, recording equipment, including transmission gadgets belonging to the station and also made away with …

In the early hours of  June 6, 2014, armed soldiers in Abuja, Nigeria’s Federal Capital Territory and Warri in Delta State, South-south Nigeria, impounded the distribution vans of two dailies: “Leadership” and “The Nation” newspapers and confiscated the day’s edition of the newspapers meant for several locations. The soldiers claimed …

On May 12, 2014, the Nasarawa State command of the Nigeria Police charged the State correspondent of Daily Trust Newspaper, Hir Joseph to the Chief Magistrate Court sitting in Lafia, the State capital, accusing him of publishing “Injurious Falsehood” contrary to section 393(1) of the State’s penal code. The First …

On April 14, 2014, Sebastine Ebhuomhan, the Edo State Chief Correspondent of the “National Mirror” newspaper, went into hiding alleging that the Nigerian Army was planning to arrest and detain him indefinitely. Ebhuomhan disclosed this in a press statement he issued, which he copied, among others, to Governor Adams Oshiomhole …

A 32-year old Nigerian, Onimisi Isiaka Yusuf, using the twitter handle @ciaxon has been arrested in Abuja by the State Security Service (SSS), Nigeria’s domestic intelligence agency, for tweeting and posting picture on twitter on 30 March 2014, about the attempted jailbreak by some detainees suspected to be members of …

On  March 25, 2014 at about 3.30pm local time, Mr. Reuben Buhari, an Abuja correspondent with the Lagos-based daily newspaper, Thisday, was arrested in Kaduna, North-western Nigeria and taken to Abuja, Nigeria’s federal capital for interrogation over photographs he posted on Facebook.   At about 12.38pm local time, he sent an …

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) is seeking feedback from stakeholders on  its project on “Internet Universality”. This is in the context of the comprehensive study into internet issues which was mandated by the 37th General Conference in November 2013. In accordance with Resolution 52 at the …