The International Press Centre, IPC, has called for urgent and thorough investigations into the documented cases of crimes against journalists spread across the country.
The IPC said the call, contained in a press statement, on Thursday, in commemoration of this year‘s International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists (IDEI), is geared toward holding perpetrators accountable.
The IPC Communications Officer, Olutoyin Ayoade who signed the statement, affirmed that the threats to journalism and press freedom have become alarming on the grounds of the numerous monitored and documented incidents of attacks against journalists.
He said such crimes have worsened in the past decade and largely remain judicially unresolved.
Among the unresolved killings of journalists in the line of duty in Nigeria, as listed by the Centre, are those of Alex Ogbu (Regent Africa Times), Ikechukwu Onubogu, (Anambra Broadcasting Service (ABS), Maxwell Nashan (Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria), Onifade Emmanuel Pelumi (Gboah TV), and Precious Owolabi (Channels TV).
In addition, the IPC Centre for Safety and Protection of Journalists (ICSPJ), also claimed that they had recorded twenty-nine cases of attacks involving thirty-nine journalists across the country.
IPC said the nature of attacks includes the imposition of fines, physical assault, harassment, deleting of pictures, unlawful arrest, detention, and intimidation to mention but just a few.
The Executive Director, IPC, Lanre Arogundade, in the statement, also alleged that “Frequent attacks on journalists discourage the media from performing its core functions at elections, especially providing credible information to enable the people to make informed choices.”
“The fight to end the entrenched culture of impunity for crimes against the media, requires a multi-stakeholder approach, this is why IPC along with other media support and media professional groups as well as other stakeholders including the civil society, have for some time spearheaded the campaign for the establishment of a national mechanism for the safety and protection of journalists in Nigeria”.
He called on the President Tinubu administration to take urgent measures to comply with regional and international frameworks on safety journalists, which UNESCO says should revolve around the three Ps of: Prevention, Protection and Prosecution.
He tasked law enforcement authorities to accord high priority to the safety of Journalists who would be on duty during the off-cycle governorship elections in Imo, Bayelsa and Kogi States on November 11.
On the part of journalists, he enjoined them to take responsibility for their safety by adhering to election reporting safety advisory for journalists by IPC and the Nigeria Media Code of Election Coverage.
