HURIWA WANTS PROBE OF ATTACKS OF EDITORS

“The recent dastardly criminal attacks, horrendous physical brutality and despicable violence targeted at the persons of two Newspaper editors in Lagos within a space of two weeks by armed hoodlums is too much of an existential coincidence to be dismissed with a mere wave of hand as the usual work of men of the underworld”.

“These dangerous patterns of armed attack of Newspaper editors and purveyors of information should be comprehensively, transparently and forensically investigated by a combined team of Nigeria police Force (NPF), and state security service [SSS] to establish if the era of targeted assassination of media workers has returned”.  

With the above opening phrases, a media focused and development inclined Non-Governmental organization – HUMAN RIGHTS WRITERS’ ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA (HURIWA) has called on the Inspector General of Police Mr. Mohammed Dikko Abubakar and the Director General of State Security Service (SSS) Mr. Ita Ekpenyong to order the immediate investigation of the recent armed attacks of the editor (Daily) of Daily Sun Mr. Steve Nwosu and editor (Daily) of compass Newspaper – Mr. Gabriel Akinadewo.

In a media statement jointly authorized by the National Coordinator Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko and the Director of National media Affairs, Miss Zainab  Yusuf, HUMAN RIGHTS WRITERS’ ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA (HURIWA) called on the nation’s law enforcement Chiefs to take professional and competent look at the emerging pattern of armed attacks against these media Chiefs to determine if the evil era of targeted assassination of Journalists which led to the brutal killings of many Journalists in the past has indeed re-emerged.

The group said it was unfortunate that the law enforcement Agencies in the country have all but failed woefully to track down the real perpetrators of these dastardly cruel crimes against Journalists in order to successfully and competently bring them to Justice to serve as deterrent. The Rights Group charged Government to ensure that the Nigeria Police Force [NPF] sets up functional standard criminal forensic laboratories in the six geo-political zones to quicken the pace of crime investigation even as the country essentially needs a national crime data bank.

“Nigeria has already entered the World record as a sovereign nation whereby suspected killers of Journalists and other civilian citizens of the country have gone undetected and unresolved by all the branches of law enforcement organs including the Nigeria Police Force and het State Security Service”, HURIWA, lamented.

It stated further thus; “Beginning with the first ever letter bomb assassination of the founding editor of Newswatch Magazine Mr. Dele Giwa during the military era to the most recent assassination of Mr. Bayo Ohu, an assistant editor with The Guardian among scores of other journalists, the Nigerian State has failed spectacularly to bring the perpetrators to face the full weight of the law”, HURIWA stated.     

  

The Rights group challenged the current security chiefs in the country to begin a revolutionary law enforcement agenda that will effectively lead to the closures of all the past violent assassinations of Journalists by ordering fresh transparent and scientific – based investigations into all the past and the current attacks so as to remove Nigeria from the global black book as a nation that tolerates impunity and anarchy.

Specifically, media reports quoting some security forces said the Daily editor of Daily Sun Newspaper was attacked last week by suspected armed robbers.

Steve Nwosu, who serves as the editor of The Daily Sun, suffered a grazing gunshot wound to his head during the alleged robbery on Wednesday July 25th 2012. The Sun’s Thursday July 26th edition said Nwosu was attacked by suspected robbers on a motorcycle after leaving a bank in Lagos with more than $1500.

Similarly, on Sunday night of July 29th 2012, suspected armed robbers in police uniform attacked the Editor of the Nigerian Compass, Gabriel Akinadewo and snatched his Toyota Avensis car after brutalizing him.

But HURIWA asked the security forces to openly and transparently probe these attacks since it is an open secret in the international community that attacks on media workers remain all – too common in Nigeria, described in some critical global cycles as a nation where political actors, security operatives and others with wide contacts with the powers- that- be routinely harass, physically intimidate and violently attack Journalists, for allegedly writing unfriendly news stories.     

31/7/2012