Security agencies, including the police, military, and intelligence services, have increasingly become the foremost adversaries of the media in Nigeria, accountable for the majority of attacks against journalists in 2024. This finding is contained in the annual state of media freedom report released on Tuesday by Media Rights Agenda (MRA).
The 137-page report, titled “Media Freedom Under Threat: The State of Media Freedom and Journalists’ Safety in Nigeria 2024,” highlights that out of 64 recorded attacks on journalists in 2022, law enforcement and security agencies were responsible for 29, accounting for approximately 45 per cent. In 2023, they were implicated in 34 of the 77 documented attacks, roughly 44 per cent.
Alarmingly, the situation deteriorated further in 2024. According to MRA, from January 1 to October 31, law enforcement and security agencies were behind 45 of the 69 attacks on journalists, representing around 65 per cent.
In a statement issued in Lagos coinciding with the report’s launch, MRA’s Programme Officer, Mr. John Gbadamosi, remarked: “It is ironic that the institutions entrusted with upholding the rule of law and safeguarding citizens, including journalists, have instead turned into instruments of oppression against the media. What’s worse is that the prevailing culture of impunity, which has allowed past attacks to go unpunished, has emboldened these perpetrators, leading to increasingly horrific incidents.”
The report meticulously documents 21 cases of assault and battery against journalists in the first ten months of the year; 17 instances of arbitrary arrests and detentions; three raids on journalists’ homes and offices; eight threats to life; two harassment cases; six abductions or kidnappings; five occasions where journalists were obstructed while performing their duties; one journalist killed; and six instances of other forms of attacks.
Aside from law enforcement and security agencies, other perpetrators identified in the report include government officials, responsible for four attacks; the courts, which contributed to two violations of journalists’ rights; as well as thugs and hoodlums, responsible for seven attacks; four unknown gunmen; and six unidentified individuals.
Mr. Gbadamosi also noted a positive development this year, stating: “In recent years, crippling fines imposed by the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) on broadcast stations for alleged violations of the Nigeria Broadcasting Code have been a prominent feature of the threat landscape. However, in 2024, there were no fines levied against broadcasters by the NBC, likely due to court judgments obtained by MRA in May 2023 and January 2024, which prohibited the NBC from imposing such fines. We commend the NBC for abiding by the courts’ directives.”
In addition, he said, the year also witnessed another positive development with the opening of a court-mandated inquiry into the death of Mr. Pelumi Onifade, a 20-year-old reporter with Gboah TV who was reportedly arrested by policemen attached to a Lagos State taskforce while he was covering the #EndSARS protests in 2020, and later found dead at a mortuary in Ikorodu in Lagos, where his body was deposited.
Describing the development as unprecedented and a significant step toward accountability and justice in cases involving attacks on journalists in Nigeria, Mr. Gbadamosi said MRA is very proud to have instituted the wrongful death suit against the Police and the Lagos State Government which resulted in the judgment of a Federal High Court in Lagos directing an investigation into the late journalist’s death.
He said: “Despite these significant positive developments in the course of the year, the threat environment for journalism and media practice in Nigeria remains extremely concerning and it is imperative that urgent measures are taken to protect journalists and hold perpetrators of attacks against them accountable. Such measures should include strengthening Nigeria’s legal framework to better protect journalists and ensure that all attacks against journalists are speedily investigated and the perpetrators prosecuted and punished.”
According to Mr. Gbadamosi, without meaningful action to safeguard media freedom in Africa’s largest democracy, the cycle of violence and other forms of attacks against journalists as well as impunity for such attacks will persist, further undermining Nigeria’s democracy and the public’s right to know.
