The International Press Institute (IPI), a global network of editors, media executives and journalists, today condemned the Nigerian army’s raid on the Daily Trust newspaper on Sunday, January 6, 2019, and demanded the release of the paper’s regional editor.
In a letter sent to the Nigerian Minister of Information and Culture Lai Mohamed, IPI Executive Director Barbara Trionfi described the incident, in which soldiers arrested Daily Trust regional editor Uthman Abubakar and reporter Ibrahim Sawab in Maiduguri and stormed the paper’s offices in Maiduguri and Abuja, seizing a number of computers, as a “clear attack on press freedom”. Sawab was later released.
Authorities have said the move was a necessary response to the Daily Trust’s publication of what the military described as sensitive information on a planned offensive against Islamic militants in the country’s northeast. Trionfi rejected that claim.
“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. We stress that any independent newspaper has the freedom and responsibility to inform readers of significant developments of public interest, of which the Nigerian government’s response to the activities of terrorist organizations is undoubtedly one”, she said in the letter.
Trionfi further wrote that the army’s actions in raiding the Daily Trust’s offices and arresting two of its journalists were inappropriate and disproportionate and appeared aimed at silencing independent media in the country.
During IPI’s 2018 World Congress in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital, Mohamed emphasized Nigeria’s commitment to press freedom, stating that “(t)his administration will continue to provide the enabling environment for the journalist to function unmolested”.
Read the full letter below.
Honourable Mr Lai Mohammed
Minister of Information and culture
Government of Nigeria
7 January 2019
Action of the Nigerian army against the Daily Trust Newspaper
Your excellency,
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 journalist 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. We stress that any independent newspaper has 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 organizations is undoubtedly one.
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.
