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New York, April 28, 2023—Nigeria authorities should review recent statements that falsely characterize CPJ’s investigation of the country’s press freedom situation, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Friday.
On Thursday, April 27, the state Nigerian news agency reported that Attorney General and Minister of Justice Abubakar Malami described the CPJ investigation in a meeting the day before and concluded that “Nigeria is the only African country that has fully complied with protecting the rights of journalists.”
That report quoted Malami as saying that no journalists had been killed in the country “as a result of related violations.”
For years, CPJ research has documented a steady stream of attacks, prosecutions and harassment of journalists in Nigeria, including for publishing alleged “fake newsCPJ investigation shows that at least 24 journalists have been killed in Nigeria since 1992. At least 12 of these journalists are confirmed been killed in connection with their work.
“CPJ’s investigation into press freedom in Nigeria, which shows years of attacks on members of the press, including murders, strongly contradicts comments by Attorney General and Minister of Justice Abubakar Malami on the press freedom situation in Nigeria. country,” said Angela Quintal, CPJ’s Africa representative. program coordinator. “Malami’s misrepresentation of CPJ’s investigation is particularly alarming and tragically ironic given the frequency with which Nigerian journalists are charged and prosecuted for distributing alleged falsehoods.”
Malami made his remarks at a briefing to promote the Nigerian government’s human rights agenda, which was chaired by President Muhammadu Buhari.
In January, Justice Ministry spokesman Umaru Gwandu similarly mischaracterized CPJ’s investigation in a safety event of journalists during the elections.
Previously, in 2020, mischaracterized malami the fact that Nigeria was not included in CPJ’s annual report Impunity Index as an achievement of the Nigerian authorities. However, Nigeria was no longer included in the 2020 index because tracked only murders from the previous 10 years, and therefore no longer includes a murder from 2009. Nigerian authorities have failed to achieve full accountability for any journalist deaths that CPJ has documented. Malami repeated that claim in 2022, according to local media reports.
When CPJ reached out to Malami for comment via the messaging app, he asked to see CPJ’s evidence on the killings of journalists. When CPJ sent him records of journalists killed in Nigeria, he said he would “review” them, later saying: “Our conclusion is based on your published reports. You may want to refer to their previous releases that state the same position.”
CPJ also called Gwandu for comment, but he did not respond.
Contacted through a messaging app, presidential spokesperson Garba Shehu asked whether CPJ had found the Nigerian government responsible for the journalists’ murders. CPJ sent findings in its database showing that since 1992 government officials have been suspected of involvement in the murders of at least four journalists: Okezie Amaruben in 1998, Fidelis Ikwuebe in 1999, lovely owolabi in 2019, and Onifade Emmanuel Pelumi in 2020. In response, Shehu said, “I work as a spokesperson for the president” and that Malami could speak for himself.