The International Press Institute (IPI), a global network of editors, media executives and journalists, has condemned the high-handed action of the Nigerian Army against the Daily Trust and demanded the immediate release of the regional editor of the newspaper and a reporter arrested on Sunday, in Maiduguri, Borno State.

Armed soldiers shut Daily Trust, arrest Editor, reporter

In a letter to the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, IPI described the arrest of the journalists and siege on the newspaper’s offices in Maiduguri, Abuja and Lagos as an attack on media freedom in the country.

IPI Executive Director Barbara Trionfi said in the letter to the minister: “The authorities have provided no evidence that the information published by Daily Trust would endanger military lives or the security of military operations to an extent that would outweigh 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 organisations is undoubtedly one.”

Trionfi further wrote that the army’s actions in raiding 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.”

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