9th June, 2014
The seizure last week of thousands of copies four major Nigerian newspapers by the military at the behest of the President Goodluck Jonathan administration is not only barbaric, but also a disturbing confirmation that rather than defeating the Boko Haram terrorists, the government has resigned to fate and has decided to stifle press freedom and promote propaganda.
Last Friday, the military stopped and searched distribution vans of The Nation, The Punch, Daily Trust and Leadership newspapers. The security agents then confiscated and destroyed thousands of copies of the newspapers and beat up drivers and distributors. The show of shame continued on Saturday unabated, with the rampaging soldiers claiming that they were acting on orders from above.
The barbaric action, which was justified by the government of President Jonathan, affected the distribution of these newspapers on Friday and Saturday. The media houses suffered huge losses and the assaulted staff are yet to recover. This has prompted them to contemplate suing the Federal Government.
The military claimed that it received intelligence report that some sensitive materials were being moved across the country in newspaper vans. It said it was not its intention to stifle press freedom. These explanation is a barefaced lie and untenable as their search has proven futile with no gun or bomb found in any of the vans.
Since the soldiers did not find any weapon in the vans, why did they go ahead to confiscate the vans, destroy the newspapers seized and detain the drivers of the vans? It clearly shows the military is out to muzzle the press while hiding under a dubious claim of receiving intelligence report about spurious sensitive materials. If they are so good at gathering intelligence, why have they not rescued the Chibok girls or end the Boko Haram insurgency since 2009?
It is clear that the Jonathan administration, in an attempt to cover crass failure in dealing with Boko Haram insurgency and rescuing the Chibok girls, is trying to take the country back to the dark ages and tranferring his aggression on the media. By his undemocratic action, Jonathan must understand that the military may not only stop at seizing newspapers and silencing the press. The next step they may take could further undermine the nation’s democracy.
As a civilian, Jonathan must cherish and protect democracy that brought him to power. He should strengthen it rather than undermine it. He must not destroy all the gains made since 1999 by using the military to fight his battle with the media. The media are not reponsible for the prevailing woes in the country.
Jonathan is playing with fire by inviting the military out of their barracks to oppress civilians, much less the media. At a time the military have their hands full in combating insurgency, they have abandoned that mission to fight the media which they perceive a soft target. Let the military leave the patriotic Nigerian media alone and face the real enemy, Boko Haram.