By Emmanuel Onwubiko
A media focused non-governmental organization- HUMAN RIGHTS WRITERS' ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA, [HURIWA] has strongly condemned the arrest by armed security operatives of some senior Editors of the Nation Newspapers on the allleged reported strenght of a petition by the former President Chief Olusegun Obasanjo and stated that the method adopted in the arrest was reminiscent of the dark days of the repressive military and dictatorial regimes even as it has asked the Nigeria Police authorities to either charge them to competent court of law speedly or release them unconditionally with profuse apologies for the psychological torture they were subjected to in the course of the reported arrest.
HURIWA has also advised the President, Commander-in-cheif of the Nigerian Armed Forces Dr. Goodluck Ebele Azikiwe Jonathan to call the hierarchy of the nation's security community to order so that the security operatives would not soil the seemingly good and credible pro-media image that the current administration has built for itself just as it admonished the Federal Government not to allow the former President to unduely enjoy lopsided privileges by making use of the mechanism of the nation's law enforcement agencies to arm twist the editors of the Nation Newspaper in the ongoing dispute over the validity or otherwise of the letter purportedly written and sent to the President by the erstwhile President in which he was alleged to have advised the current federal administration to sack some select heads of some sensitive and high profile Federal agencies.
In the statement made available to the media and endorsed jointly by the national Coordinator Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko and the National Media Affairs officer Miss. Zainab Yusuf, the Rights group said the Federal Government must do everything within the law to promote and protect media freedoms in line with constitutional provisions and the recently signed Freedom of Information Act of 2011 just as the group said the current Inspector General of Police Mr. Hafix Ringim must demonstrate evidential proofs to show that he is not a willing tool for the suppression of media freedom and pluralism in Nigeria wich are essential for the full advamncement of democracy, the Rule of Law and respect for the fundamental freedoms and human rights of the citizenry.
According to HURIWA; "we in the human rights community are shocked that few months after the current President endorsed the legendary Freedom of Information Act which is universally accalimed as the best instrument for the promotion of media freedom and real practice of democracy in Nigeria, the reactionary elements in the security community are now seeking to use the brutal repression of editors of the vibrant Nation Newspaper to soil the good image that the current President is building for his administration as the only federal administration in the annals of Nigeria to indelibly make a mark in the promotion and protection of media freedom. We urge the operatives of the security community to desist from the usual overzealous and repressive military tendencies they always generously display each time they are deployed to invite some media practioners for interrogation".
The Rights group said that in compliance with section 36 [5] of the constitution of the federal Republic of Ngeria as amended, the senior Editorial staff of the lagos based media house- Nation Newspapers are innocent in the eyes of the law until proven guilty by the competent court of law in accordance with section 6 of the Constitution and therefore condemns the gestapo style of the reported invassion and arrest of some senior editors of Nation Newspaper as if they are common criminals. The Group also stated that the secutiy operatives must conduct themselves within the scope of the law even if the matter reported to the involves the former President of Nigeria since according to the Rights group all citizens are equal before the law.
In the statement made available to the media and endorsed jointly by the national Coordinator Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko and the National Media Affairs officer Miss. Zainab Yusuf, the Rights group said the Federal Government must do everything within the law to promote and protect media freedoms in line with constitutional provisions and the recently signed Freedom of Information Act of 2011 just as the group said the current Inspector General of Police Mr. Hafix Ringim must demonstrate evidential proofs to show that he is not a willing tool for the suppression of media freedom and pluralism in Nigeria wich are essential for the full advamncement of democracy, the Rule of Law and respect for the fundamental freedoms and human rights of the citizenry.
According to HURIWA; "we in the human rights community are shocked that few months after the current President endorsed the legendary Freedom of Information Act which is universally accalimed as the best instrument for the promotion of media freedom and real practice of democracy in Nigeria, the reactionary elements in the security community are now seeking to use the brutal repression of editors of the vibrant Nation Newspaper to soil the good image that the current President is building for his administration as the only federal administration in the annals of Nigeria to indelibly make a mark in the promotion and protection of media freedom. We urge the operatives of the security community to desist from the usual overzealous and repressive military tendencies they always generously display each time they are deployed to invite some media practioners for interrogation".
The Rights group said that in compliance with section 36 [5] of the constitution of the federal Republic of Ngeria as amended, the senior Editorial staff of the lagos based media house- Nation Newspapers are innocent in the eyes of the law until proven guilty by the competent court of law in accordance with section 6 of the Constitution and therefore condemns the gestapo style of the reported invassion and arrest of some senior editors of Nation Newspaper as if they are common criminals. The Group also stated that the secutiy operatives must conduct themselves within the scope of the law even if the matter reported to the involves the former President of Nigeria since according to the Rights group all citizens are equal before the law.
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