Again, the plights of hard-working journalists came to the fore recently when the whole world marked the International Day to End Impunity Against Journalists. ELEOJO IDACHABA writes on the Day and what it means to newshounds.
It’s an annual event that commemorates and recalls the lives and times of media men who have paid the supreme price while in active service. In marking the Day in Nigeria, it was like a solemn assembly as the event coincided with the sudden disappearance of a Vanguard newspaper journalist, Tordue Henry Salem, whose sad death hit the airwaves like a thunderstorm days ago.
The death of Salem, like other media men who lost their lives in the course of doing their jobs, is the reason for this annual memorial event.
The late Vanguard reporter who reported from the House of Representative was said to have closed from the National Assembly on October 13 and was said to have indicated his desire to make his way to Area 8 in Garki before his sudden disappearance. The news about the cause of his death by a hit and run driver, according to the police, has however continued to elicit reactions as many suspected foul play.
Prior to the announcement of his death, the FCT Council of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) led by its chairman, Emma Ogbeche, had led a protest match to the Force Headquarters to request police authorities to explain why the journalist was still missing two weeks after his sudden disappearance.
The text of the petition the council submitted to the Inspector General of Police reads, “The IGP, Sir, as you are aware, a colleague of ours and a journalist of note, Mr. Tordue Henry Salem of the Vanguard Newspapers went missing on Wednesday, October 13, 2021 right in front of the Total Filing Station less than a 100 meters from the Force Headquarters.
“Forty eight hours after fellow colleagues who cover the House of Representatives realised he had disappeared, a report was immediately incidented at the House of Reps Police Division. This was followed by a petition to both your office and that of the director general of the Department of State Security by his employers – Vanguard Media Ltd. This is outside calls by the leadership of the NUJ to senior officers of the police.”
On receiving the protesters, it took the media-friendly Frank Mba, the Force Public Relations Officer (FPRO), to calm the frayed nerves of the journalists, with the assurance that their colleague would return safely, but solicited cooperation as investigation into his disappearance continued.
Mba said, “We are as concerned as journalists and members of the family. We have commenced investigation and we have done everything humanly and technologically possible to ensure he is found. We have interrogated at least six persons and have traced the places he visited after he left the National Assembly.
“We have spoken with the last person he had an encounter with. We are imploring members of the family, public and journalists that this is an active investigation. We have a choice not to speak as not to jeopardise our investigation. This has explained our silence over the time.”
That’s not all, lending his voice during a two day capacity workshop organised by the House Committee on media, speaker, House of Representatives, Hon Femi Gbajabiamila while reacting to Salem’s disappearance though assured that the lower house would cooperate with security agents to ensure the missing journalist returns safely, but all that never saw the light of day until his corpse was reportedly found on the night of Thursday last week.
According to the speaker, “I do know that the Vanguard correspondent in the House of Representatives, Tordue Salem who has been missing for some weeks now, is still yet to be found. I have been in contact with that leadership of the Press Corps and the authority that is doing this investigation since this matter came to light. I want to encourage security agencies not to relent in their effort to locate Tordue and bring him back to the House. I see the Press Corps as part of the institution and anything that touches one touches the rest of us.”
Salem’s case is one out of several cases of journalists in misadventures worldwide.
Antecedents
Lamenting the plights of journalists, Blueprint‘s editorial recalls that Nigeria has had its own share of brutality and impunity against media workers.
According to the editorial, “Apart from the high profile murder of Newswatch’s Dele Giwa in October 1986 through a letter bomb, there have been several gruesome murders of journalists in recent years. They include Bagauda Kaltho of The News magazine who was killed in Kaduna and later labelled a bomber; Tunde Oladepo, Ogun state bureau chief of The Guardian Newspaper who was shot dead in his bedroom in Abeokuta; Godwin Agbroko, chairman of the editorial board of This Day Newspaper who had life snuffed out of him on Christmas eve in 2006; Samuel Famakinwa also of ThisDay who was found dead in his hotel room in Maiduguri; again Abayomi Ogundeji also of ThisDay who was eliminated in August 2008; Bayo Ohu, a father of five and political reporter of The Guardian who was assassinated in his Lagos home on September 20 2009 and Dimgba Igwe, vice- chairman of The Sun Publishing Limited who was overrun by a vehicle while jogging in his neighbourhood in the Okota area of Lagos state on September 6, 2014.”
The editorial noted further, “The latest and worrisome case is the recent disappearance of the Abuja-based Vanguard correspondent, Tordue Henry Salem, from his abode on October 13, this year. The Inspector General of Police, Alkali Baba, has assured the Nigeria Union of Journalists that the missing reporter would be rescued. It is even more worrisome that no clues have been established as to the motive behind his disappearance, initially suspected to be the handiwork of kidnappers.”
One common trend in all the murder cases above, the editorial noted, is that the killers were never found as endless investigations continue until the matter is swept under the carpet.
Global condemnations
In his remarks to mark this year’s occasion, a former secretary general of the United Nations, Mr. Ban Ki-Moon, warned that impunity for crimes against journalists is rampant and, therefore, called for concrete steps from all countries to ensure that media professionals are guaranteed space to operate free from harassment and intimidation.
Also, in her message to decry the impunity against media workers, the director- general of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), Irina Bakova, had said, “Impunity breeds another impunity which leads to injustice for all.”
UNESCO’s resolution on impunity stems from the worrying situation over a decade and a half during which more than 800 journalists were killed for bringing news and information to the public.
Scary statistics
In 2012 alone, the global body record showed that 123 journalists were killed, and the figure decreased slightly to 91 the following year but still represented the second deadliest year for journalists. Of the 593 murdered between 2006 and 2013, the report has it that 94 per cent were local journalists while six per cent were foreign journalists. The statistics revealed further that male journalists accounted for 94 per cent with 41 per cent working in the print media.
It is, therefore, true that no one can deny the fact that journalism is a risky profession all over the world; that is why other global bodies Amnesty International, Journalists Without Borders, Committee to Protect Journalists and other international human rights groups constantly chronicle cases of killing, maiming and jailing of media men and women.
The UN agency stated that between 2006 and 2020, over 1,200 professionals lost their lives the same way and nine out of 10 cases, the killers go unpunished.
It noted that in 2021, because of statistics like these, the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists is highlighting the important role of prosecutorial services, not only in bringing killers to justice, but also prosecuting threats of violence.
In his message, the UN secretary-general, António Guterres, noted that many journalists had lost their lives while covering conflicts. Investigation however shows that the number of media workers killed outside conflict zones has risen in recent years.
Guterres said, “In many countries, simply investigating corruption, trafficking, human rights violations or environmental issues puts journalists’ lives at risk.”
He noted that crimes against journalists have an enormous impact on society as a whole because they prevent people from making informed decisions.
“Journalists face countless other threats, ranging from kidnapping, torture and arbitrary detention, to disinformation campaigns and harassment, particularly in the digital sphere.
“Crimes against journalists have enormous impact on society as a whole because they prevent people from making informed decisions.
“The Covid-19 pandemic and shadow pandemic of misinformation has demonstrated that access to facts and science is literally a matter of life and death. When access to information is threatened, it sends a disturbing message that undermines democracy and the rule of law.”
Also, according to UNESCO’s recent paper on ‘The Chilling Global Trends in Online Violence against Women Journalists,’ 73 per cent of the women journalists surveyed admitted that they had been threatened, intimidated and insulted online in connection with their works.
Another UNESCO chief, Audrey Azoulay, while marking the day also said, “For too many journalists, telling the truth comes at a price. When attacks against journalists go unpunished, the legal system and safety frameworks have failed everyone.
“States thus have an obligation to protect journalists and to ensure that the perpetrators of crimes against them are punished.
“Judges and prosecutors in particular, have an important role to play in promoting swift and effective criminal proceedings.”
UNESCO in the recent times has trained nearly 23,000 judicial officials, including judges, prosecutors and lawyers.
The training covered international standards related to freedom of expression and safety of journalists with focus on impunity.
“Only by allowing the truth to be spoken can we advance peace, justice and sustainable development in our societies.”
Journalists in the country had always been victims of overzealous security operatives as investigation reveals that politicians and top ranking public officers are always on the prowl, not wanting to see contrary viewpoints in print or on the airwaves.
Also, corrupt accounting officers in government ministries, departments and agencies are among those that dread investigative reporters like a plague and would do anything possible to keep them away. To that extent, the journalist is the most unwanted guest at every location where crimes are being conceived or perpetrated, but those who hunt journalists down have not succeeded in getting the practitioners to sheathe their pens in order to suppress the truth altogether.
Protection for journalists
The Blueprint editorial also noted, “Nigeria parades some of the best journalists in the world. The annual commemoration would be meaningless if all relevant professional bodies like the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) and the Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE) do not ensure that their members are adequately protected and their welfare well taken care of.”
In the views of Malam Alhassan Bogua, a former staff of New Nigerian Newspapers, “Nigerian media practitioners operate under deplorable conditions especially those working in the private media outfits that exploit them. Aside from poor and irregular payment of salaries and allowances, many are not provided with basic tools to work with and are prone to danger. It is perhaps this deplorable situation that exposes some of them to brown envelope temptations. Very few of them, if any, are covered by life assurance in the event of loss of life or injuries while on duty tour.”
The International Day to End Impunity Against Journalists and Media Workers was chosen in commemoration of the brutal murder of two French journalists, Ghislaine Dupont and Claude Verlon in Mali on November 2, 2012. The day is, therefore, used to condemn all attacks and violence against journalists and media workers.
