THE International Press Institute (IPI), a global network of editors, media executives and leading journalists, has welcomed Friday’s release of a reporter of an online news medium, Premium Times, Samuel Ogundipe, on bail but demanded that all charges against him be dropped.
Ogundipe was arrested by the police on August 14 after Premium Times published a report sent by the Inspector General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, to Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, who is currently serving as acting president.
The report detailed the actions of a former director of the State Security Service (SSS) in relation to an incident in which SSS operatives blocked lawmakers from entering the National Assembly on August 7.
The police are demanding that Ogundipe reveal his sources for the IGP report.
The Premium Times reported that Ogundipe was released on Friday morning after posting bail in the amount of N500,000.
“The prosecution of Samuel Ogundipe is a form of harassment against a journalist who has been carrying out his work professionally and in full respect of the principles included in the Code of Ethics of the Nigerian Press Council.
“The confidentiality of sources is universally acknowledged both as a duty and a right of journalists, as it is a necessary precondition for journalistic work,” IPI Executive Director, Barbara Trionfi, said.
“International principles and treaties, including the 2002 Declaration of Principles on Freedom of Expression in Africa adopted by the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights in 2002 and which represents an important milestone for media freedom in Africa, sets clear obligations on African Union member states to guarantee the confidentiality of journalistic sources.”
“In arresting and prosecuting Ogundipe, the Nigerian government has also violated Article 66 of the Treaty of ECOWAS signed in Lagos in 1975, which requires member states to “ensure respect for the rights of journalists”, Trionfi added.
In June, President Muhammadu Buhari, inaugurating the 67th IPI World Congress in Abuja, said that “good journalism promotes good governance.” He added: “In an environment where fake news dwarfs investigative reporting, good journalism matters.”
Trionfi said: “Unfortunately, President Buhari’s words do not resonate in the actions of the police, and investigative journalism still faces great obstacles today in Nigeria. The article published by the Premium Times is an example of good investigative reporting. Nigerian officials should cherish this type of journalism and so send a clear message about their serious intention to fight corruption and wrongdoing in the country.”
Arresting journalists and asking them to disclose their sources has become a pattern in Nigeria.
In April 2013, two journalists of the Leadership newspaper were detained for several days after they refused to disclose their sources.
In March this year, the Abuja bureau chief of the Independent, Tony Ezimakor, was arrested and pressed to reveal his sources after he reported about the government’s allegedly paying ransom to Boko Haram for the release of kidnapped girls. He was later released without any charges.
The arrest of Ogundipe comes amid deepened scrutiny of press freedom in Nigeria.
During the World Congress, IPI raised the case of Jones Abiri, editor of a weekly who had been in the custody of the security services for nearly two years without charges.
The government accused Abiri of being a terrorist and denied that he was a journalist. Thanks to pressure from IPI and other international press freedom organisations, along with reports published in the Nigerian media establishing that Abiri is a journalist, the security services produced him in court last month and he was released on bail on Wednesday.
The magistrate hearing the case has cautioned the prosecution that the case against Abiri will be dismissed if it does not produce proof of evidence.