The International Press Centre (IPC), Lagos, Sunday, condemned the forceful closure of Daily Trust Newspapers’ head office in Abuja and the organisation’s Maiduguri office by soldiers.
IPC’s Director, Lanre Arogundade, in a statement to The NEXT EDITION, said the action of the military is a threat to democracy with the presidential elections coming less than two months away.
Mr. Arogundade said a senior editorial staff of Daily Trust confirmed the military onslaught on the media establishment.
He said the invading soldiers ordered staff out of the company’s premises, seized laptops and computers and halted the operations of the newspaper.
According to the IPC boss, the military gave no reason for invading the newspaper offices.
“IPC considers this development as a fresh threat to freedom of the press as well as the freedom and individual liberties of journalists and other media professionals working in Daily Trust,” the statement read.
“The action of the military is also a threat to democracy with the presidential elections, less than two months away.
“The military is bound by the laws of the land and cannot in any circumstance be allowed to resort to extrajudicial measures no matter its grievances.”
The media has come under consistent attack by agents of the government since President Muhammadu Buhari won the 2015 general election.
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Many journalists and social media activists have been arrested and detained by the Police, the State Security Service (SSS) the Nigerian Army and the Nigerian Customs Service.
Jones Abiri, a Bayelsa-based journalist was arrested and detained by the SSS for two years without trial and was only freed after a global outrage triggered the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) and media organisations in the country.
The government also attempted to gag the media by sponsoring an amendment to the Nigerian Press Council Act, to enable it jail reporters in the legitimate performance of their constitutional responsibilities.
