Intimidation Of Journalists Must Stop-Rafsanjani

The Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre, CISLAC, has expressed disgust over the spate of  attacks on  Nigerian journalists.

 Executive Director, CISLAC, Auwal Musa Rafsanjani, ,who expressed this in a statement ,said  intimidation and oppression of journalists regarded by the constitution as Fourth Estate of the Realm and watchdog is a violation of human rights and a deliberate attempt to scuttle the democratic process as far as checks and balances are concerned.

He also said that the intimidation currently faced by journalists and human rights activists by the state and other powerful individuals is unacceptable, and therefore condemned those who are doing so.

The statement reads in part, “The Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC) would like to use this medium to express our displeasure over the increasing intimidation of journalists and attack on human rights activists in the country.

 “The intimidation currently being faced by journalists and human rights activists by the state and other powerful individuals is unacceptable. We would like to reiterate that the human rights and the freedom of journalists and human rights activists should be respected.”

He also referred to the poor position Nigeria was placed on the recent ranking released on the World Press Freedom Index by Reporters Without Borders, which indicated a decline of press freedom in the country.

According to him:“The recently released World Press Freedom Index by the Reporters Without Borders shows a sharp decline in Nigeria’s press freedom. On this index, Nigeria with an approximate score of 40 ranked 115 out of 180 countries on the 2020 index which is 5 places worse than the previous approximate score of 36 and a rank of 120. “This negative trend is in line with other recently released indexes of the quality of governance and government in Nigeria such as the African Mo Ibrahim Index to quote one case of many”

He maintained that journalists and civil society organisations have been instrumental to national development over the years based on the role they play in the process.

 “We acknowledge the fact that journalists and civil society leaders have been instrumental to the development of Nigeria. Their investigative reports have helped to unearth corruption amongst other ills in the society and have led in many cases to significant asset recoveries and prevention of grand-scale embezzlement when law enforcement has been unable or unwilling to do so”.