By Chimezie Godfrey
The Nigeria Union of Journalists has condemned
the attack by gun men on
some journalists who were covering the Lagos State rally of the All
Progressives Congress (APC) in Lagos on Tuesday, January 8, 2019.
It was reported that those that were affected by this attack were
the group political editor of The Nation Newspaper, Emmanuel Oladesu, New
Telegraph correspondent, Temitope Ogunbanke and Ibile Television cameraman,
Abiodun Yusuf.
A statement signed by National Secretary
of NUJ, Mr. Shuaibu Usman Leman who is
also the Walin Shadalafiya said “We regret that n Nigeria, Africa’s most
populous country, journalists take great personal and professional risks
to collect, process and disseminate news and information to over 100 million
citizens in 36 States and the FCT and beyond.
“But sadly, being a journalist today can often be a deadly pursuit,
particularly for those covering conflict and other dangerous assignments.
Conflict areas and post-conflict areas are predominantly dangerous environments
for journalists.
“Other dangerous assignments include investigation of corruption cases,
coverage of political activities and elections. The number of journalists that
suffer various acts of impunity across the country and attacks on media
equipment and facilities daily is on the increase and this poses great danger
to democracy.
“We particularly appeal to the Federal Government and all States of
the Federation, to take effective measures for better protection of journalists
in their assignments.”
Newsdiaryonline recalls that the attack on journalists in Lagos occurred days after the Abuja,Maiduguri and Lagos offices of Daily Trust were stormed by armed soldiers. The invasion of Daily Trust offices came on the heels of the paper’s story on the battle against Boko Haram in Nigeria’s North East.
