10th April, 2013
In yet another of the many missteps that have become the hallmark of the Goodluck Jonathan administration, the police, acting on a presidential order, on Monday detained four journalists with the Abuja-based Leadership newspapers.
Their arrest came after their newspaper published a story, on 3 April, that President Jonathan had, in a leaked memo, issued orders to frustrate efforts by the opposition to unite ahead of the 2015 elections.
The story also hinted of plans by the government to influence the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, and remove fuel subsidy, among others plans, contained in the said memo endorsed by President Jonathan.
The reporters were only freed late Tuesday, after spending two days in police detention, during which the police tried to coerce and harass them into disclosing the source of their story.
Worse, two of the detained journalists, Tony Amokeodo and Chibuzo Ukaibe, were only released conditionally, to report at the police headquarters at 10am every day.
It is unthinkable that in a democratic setting, the presidency could contemplate, let alone order the arrest of journalists for carrying out their constitutionally-protected duty of reporting the actions of government.
It is even more surprising the police still demanded to question the journalists about the source of the story, after presidential attack dog, Doyin Okupe, had earlier dismissed the published leaked memo as a “forged document” and “cheap blackmail”.
The detention of the Leadership newspapers’ reporters follows a worrying pattern of the Jonathan government’s style of harassing journalists for doing their job, especially those critical of the administration.
This is in spite of constitutional protection of journalists’ right to publish, and legal provisions allowing for journalists to be sued in court by any aggrieved persons over libel claims.
We are concerned that despite his posturing to being committed to the rule of law and to transparency in running its affairs, the Jonathan government could still be ordering the detention and harassment of journalists merely doing their job.
The development is an affront on the Nigerian constitution, which protects press freedom and the right to hold government accountable. We condemn, in the strongest possible terms, this clear act of lawlessness and impunity by the government, which is reminiscent of the years of military rule in the country.
The press will not succumb to any pressure, under any guise, by Jonathan’s dictatorial government to muzzle it, and would not be cowed from performing its lawful duty.
The Leadership newspapers’ management has indicated it will seek redress for the unlawful detention of its reporters. We encourage it to challenge the infraction on its rights. This such brazen act of illegality should not be allowed to pass!