NUJ, CASER condemn journalist detention by DSS

The Nigerian Union of Journalists has demanded the immediate
release of the Abuja Bureau Chief of The Independent Newspapers,
Tony Ezimako, by the Department of State Services.

Also a group, Citizen Advocacy for Social and Economic Rights,
has condemned Ezimako’s detention by the DSS, describing it as
utterly shameful.

According to a statement by NUJ on Sunday, Ezimako had been in
the custody of the DSS for four days.

CASER, in its statement, noted that Ezimako’s arrest followed an
investigative report by the journalist on the movement of Swiss
foreign agent and the alleged clandestine payment of $2m by the
Nigerian government to secure the release of the kidnapped Chibok
girls.

The NUJ said its engagement with some highly-placed government
officials to secure the release of Ezimako, who is said to be
suffering from hypertension, had not yielded any positive
result.

It expressed worry that the journalist’s health would
deteriorate under the condition that he was being held by the
DSS.

“We insist that the authorities must immediately release Tony
Ezimako and permit journalists to operate without fear of
arrest.

“The Muhammadu Buhari government should seize this opportunity
to end such blatant attempts to intimidate journalists and make
press freedom a priority,” the NUJ said in a statement by its
National Secretary, Shuaibu Leman.

On its own part, CASER, in a statement by its Executive
Director, Frank Tietie, argued that Ezimako’s detention was an
affront to Section 36 of the Nigerian constitution, which
guarantees freedom of expression.

The group said with its action, the DSS had constituted itself
into an enemy of modern democracy, calling on the organisation to
retrace its steps.

CASER said what Ezimako deserved for his investigative story was
commendation, rather than detention by the DSS.

It said, “Since it has become the warped duty of government
officials to oppose the business of government in such sinister
secrecy and thereafter making painstaking efforts to hide the
truth, in order to continue to ensconce the culture of mediocrity
and unaccountability to the Nigerian people, it behooves the
Nigeria journalist to courageously discharge his responsibility to
the provisions of Section 22 of the Constitution of the Federal
Republic of Nigeria, by publishing facts that would expose
corruption, ineptitude and official irresponsibility.

“It is a lazy and cheap approach for state security agents to
arrest journalists in a clear attempt to intimidate them and
thereafter proceed to fish for non-existent evidence with which to
prosecute them.”

The Nigerian Union of Journalists has demanded the immediate
release of the Abuja Bureau Chief of The Independent Newspapers,
Tony Ezimako, by the Department of State Services.

Also a group, Citizen Advocacy for Social and Economic Rights,
has condemned Ezimako’s detention by the DSS, describing it as
utterly shameful.

According to a statement by NUJ on Sunday, Ezimako had been in
the custody of the DSS for four days.

CASER, in its statement, noted that Ezimako’s arrest followed an
investigative report by the journalist on the movement of Swiss
foreign agent and the alleged clandestine payment of $2m by the
Nigerian government to secure the release of the kidnapped Chibok
girls.

The NUJ said its engagement with some highly-placed government
officials to secure the release of Ezimako, who is said to be
suffering from hypertension, had not yielded any positive
result.

It expressed worry that the journalist’s health would
deteriorate under the condition that he was being held by the
DSS.

“We insist that the authorities must immediately release Tony
Ezimako and permit journalists to operate without fear of
arrest.

“The Muhammadu Buhari government should seize this opportunity
to end such blatant attempts to intimidate journalists and make
press freedom a priority,” the NUJ said in a statement by its
National Secretary, Shuaibu Leman.

On its own part, CASER, in a statement by its Executive
Director, Frank Tietie, argued that Ezimako’s detention was an
affront to Section 36 of the Nigerian constitution, which
guarantees freedom of expression.

The group said with its action, the DSS had constituted itself
into an enemy of modern democracy, calling on the organisation to
retrace its steps.

CASER said what Ezimako deserved for his investigative story was
commendation, rather than detention by the DSS.

It said, “Since it has become the warped duty of government
officials to oppose the business of government in such sinister
secrecy and thereafter making painstaking efforts to hide the
truth, in order to continue to ensconce the culture of mediocrity
and unaccountability to the Nigerian people, it behooves the
Nigeria journalist to courageously discharge his responsibility to
the provisions of Section 22 of the Constitution of the Federal
Republic of Nigeria, by publishing facts that would expose
corruption, ineptitude and official irresponsibility.

“It is a lazy and cheap approach for state security agents to
arrest journalists in a clear attempt to intimidate them and
thereafter proceed to fish for non-existent evidence with which to
prosecute them.”