Th e National Secretariat of the Nigerian Union of Journalists, yesterday, raised the alarm that practising journalists in Kaduna state, now live in fear of possible intimidation and harassments in the course of their line of duties. National Secretary of the body, Shuaibu Usman Leman, stated this in statement made available to newsmen in Abuja. Th e statement came against the backdrop of the attack by some hoodlums journalists and some top members of the All Progressives Party, at a press conference in Kaduna yesterday.
Th e statement reads: Some desperate politicians who are bent on destroying journalism and journalists in Kaduna State have continued with their dastardly acts on the media. Th e most recent development is frightening to the union as it signals clearly that such attacks on the media are not going to abate any soon. Political thugs sponsored by some dangerously reckless members of a political party invaded the Press Centre, venue of a press briefi ng by some APC members of the National Assembly and attacked both journalists and politicians, destroying media equipment and infl icting bodily harm on some journalists. We regret to note that Kaduna State is ingloriously attaining notoriety as the deadliest state for journalists in Nigeria to operate with harassment of journalists and increased repression of press freedom.
As professionals whose responsibility is to monitor governance and hold government accountable to the masses, journalists now live in perpetual fear of being arrested by security operatives or attacked by faceless assailants without any just cause. It is worth noting that press freedom is key to achieving credible democracy and this freedom includes the right to seek and receive information from all available sources to enable formulation of proper opinions to whomsoever one desires and to do so through whichever means it is feasible to communicate. Such attacks we believe are meant to curtail such freedoms. In the light of these unabated attacks and intimidation of journalists, we call once more on the police and other agents of the State, to immediately prioritize issues of security and safety of journalists not only in Kaduna State but throughout the country as critical components of their programmes.
