A former president of the Nigeria Union of Journalists, Mr. Lanre Ogundipe, has called on security agents for the immediate release of Mr. Stanley Ugagbe, a journalist with an online newspaper, Secret Reporters.
Ugagbe was reported to have been arrested by the police following an investigative report by the newspaper he works for.
But in a statement he issued on Sunday, Ogundipe, a veteran journalist, called on the security agency to release Ugagbe or arraign him if there was indeed any case against him.
His words: “I therefore call on the relevant authorities to immediately release Stanley Ugagbe, unless there exists a lawful basis to promptly arraign him before a court of competent jurisdiction.”
He added: “The arrest and continued detention of Journalist Stanley Ugagbe raises issues far beyond the liberty of one individual. It calls into question the disturbing disposition of some law enforcement agencies towards journalists who, in the legitimate discharge of their constitutional responsibility, publish information that may be uncomfortable to those in authority.”
Ogundipe urged law enforcement agencies to fundamentally rethink their engagement with journalists.
Democracy, he said, was not measured by how it treated those who praised authority, but by how it protected the rights of those whose professional duty was to scrutinise it.
He warned that a nation that treated its journalists as fugitives ultimately diminished the dignity of its own laws and weakened the foundations of its democracy.
The statement reads in part: “It has become an unhealthy pattern in our democracy that journalists are increasingly treated as fugitives rather than professionals performing a public duty. Where a journalist is alleged to have breached any law, the Constitution and our statutes provide clear procedures for investigation, invitation and prosecution. Resorting to intimidation, secretive arrests, prolonged detention, confiscation of work tools or other coercive tactics does not strengthen law enforcement. It weakens public confidence in the institutions charged with upholding the rule of law.
“The media is neither an appendage of government nor an enemy of the State. It exists as a constitutional institution in the service of the public interest; to inform citizens, interrogate power and promote accountability. Attempts to criminalise journalism through arbitrary law enforcement actions diminish the dignity of the law and erode the democratic values we have collectively struggled to build.
“Having devoted close to five decades to the journalism profession and having had the privilege of serving as President of both the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) and the African Union of Journalists (AUJ), I view this development with profound concern. We did not endure years of repression in pursuit of democracy only to witness a gradual return to practices that create fear within the media and discourage legitimate public-interest journalism.”
READ ALSO:
Tinubu to Pope Leo XIV: I look forward to receiving you in Nigeria
Police apprehend suspected cultist, recover loaded pistol in Lagos
Kidnapped CAC worshippers rescued in Ekiti —Police
BOOK REVIEW: Shuaib Oyedokun’s memoir as a treasure trove
INTIMATE AFFAIR: Are today’s sons prepared for today’s daughters?
WEATHER FORECAST: NiMet predicts sunshine, cloudiness
CVR: INEC extends deadline, introduces self-service registration
Why Nigeria’s counter-insurgency strategy failed –Retired Colonel
W’Cup: Colombia secure 1-0 win over Ghana to reach Round of 16
