As we celebrated World Press Freedom Day on Wednesday, we’re yet again reminded of the most recent assault on journalism practice in Nigeria by the usual suspects, our security agents. Created in December 1993 by the United Nations, World Press Freedom Day is celebrated on May 3 every year to create awareness on the need for freedom and safety of journalists in accordance with Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
At issue is how the State House correspondent of The Punch newspaper, Olalekan Adetayo, was recently expelled from the Presidential Villa over a story his paper published on President Muhammadu Buhari’s health. Punch reported on Sunday, April 24 that there was an anxiety over the President’s health. The next day, Monday, the State House chief security officer Bashir Abubakar Bindawa revoked Adetayo’s security clearance and bundled him out of the villa. It’s commendable that the president’s media aides quickly disowned the CSO’s action and his boss, Director General of the Department of State Service Lawal Daura restored the reporter’s clearance. The president’s media adviser Femi Adesina also said he wasn’t consulted by the CSO. “I was not informed. But I want to assure you that the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari will continue to uphold the freedom of the press and we will settle this amicably,” Adesina said. Days earlier, the CSO had at a meeting with the State House Press Corps given them guidelines on how to report from the Villa!
In January this year, the CSO also summoned reporters of Daily Trust and the Punch and interrogated them over a story on an accidental discharge that injured a female worker at the State House. This was reminiscent of the expulsion Radio Deutschwelle correspondent of Musa Ubale from the State House two weeks before the end of President Jonathan’s administration by the then CSO, Gordon Obua. Curiously, it was the Buhari administration that reinstated Ubale.
Some security agents have not adjusted since military rule ended in Nigeria 18 years ago. Clearly there is the need for constant training and reorientation of security men and their officers. They must snap out of the military era mindset, because they still carry on as if we’re still in it. Of recent we’ve seen how soldiers brutalized innocent civilians including an individual living with disability for wearing military uniform. We’ve also seen how different security agencies turn against each other on account of piffling disagreements.
While the DG of DSSS reacted quickly to bring to an end this embarrassing incident, he must do more by putting in place clear processes and rules to forestall future occurrences. For example, when soldiers assaulted a physically challenged man for wearing their uniform, citizens asked if it was illegal to wear military uniform. In some countries, it’s clear to security personnel that citizens can wear military uniforms provided it’s not a complete set; for example, a regular t-shirt with military trousers are allowed.
Therefore, in this case, as we celebrate press freedom, we urge the security personnel in the presidency and their agencies to use the recent incident as a teachable moment and train their operatives the rules of how to engage with the media. Already, people are linking the recent expulsion of Adetayo to the days of Major General Buhari’s military regime which enacted the infamous Decree No 4 of 1984. That infamous decree punished journalists if what they reported embarrassed top government officials, irrespective of whether it is true. It cannot be denied that the issue of the president’s health in recent weeks is causing anxiety not only among senior officials of the administration but among all Nigerians as well. For security officers to visit a reporter with a heavy handed and high handed reaction simply because he did his work is unacceptable and totally out of sync with the democratic order that we are in. It is also abuse of power, which is a form of corruption
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