Journalists hold peaceful protest in Kwara

Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed of Kwara State has described incessant attacks, intimidation and harassment of journalists in parts of the country as condemnable.

The Governor added that adequate, proper and unfettered access to information would guarantee the safety of lives and property of Nigerians.

Addressing members of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Kwara state council during a peaceful rally to Government House, Ilorin on Thursday, the governor said that journalism is the institution that democracy rests upon and the voice of the voiceless.

The rally was in compliance with the directive of the national body of
the NUJ to state councils against attacks and arrest of journalists in parts of the country.

The procession, which started from the Offa Road Ilorin, NUJ Secretariat, Offa road, ended at the Ahmadu Bello Way Government House, as journalists carried placards with inscriptions such as “We are saying no to incessant attacks on journalists,’ ‘No to impunity,’ ‘Yes to press freedom,’ ‘Journalism is not a crime,’ photography is not a crime.”

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The state NUJ chairman, Abdulwahab Umar, later presented a letter of protest to the governor for onward transmission to President Muhammadu Buhari.

Represented by Information and Communications Commissioner Mohammed Sabi, the governor said “we share in your pains over alleged attacks,
intimidation and clamp-down on journalists in some parts of the country. I appreciate you for the matured approach to this national malady. It is through freedom of speech that our nascent democracy can be preserved.

“That is why the state government is creating an enabling environment for the unfettered practice of journalism in the state. It is evidenced in the ongoing renovation of the state-owned media organisations. We all owe it a duty to make the country safe via proper and adequate information dissemination.”

“I urge our journalists not to surrender even in the face of these intimidations and attacks. It is part of the hazards of the profession.”

Earlier, Mr Umar told the governor that NUJ embarked on the peaceful protest to register its grievances against the attempt to muzzle the practice of journalism in the country.

“A situation where our members have become endangered spices must stop. Safety of journalists is not negotiable. We thank the state government for making a practice of journalism safe.

“If democracy must thrive and if we must sustain our democracy, then frequent attacks on journalists must stop”.