CPJ promotes press freedom worldwide and defends the right of journalists to report the news without fear of reprisal.
Nigerian Senate Drops ‘Anti-Social Media’ Bill.
#sociamediabill #socialmedia #nigeria #nigeriansenate #nigerianews #africa #africanews
Living in the Wake of Boko Haram
Twentynine-year-old Mariam Joseph, from Baga in northern Nigeria, was kidnapped by Boko Haram along with around 140 women, including her sister. Though she was kidnapped with her baby twins and toddler son, her twins died under captivity. She was kept in a village for almost nine months and treated like a slave, cooking and cleaning for Boko Haram’s wives. Mariam, seen here on March 27, 2016, escaped with her son after being told she had to marry an insurgent.
According to the Global Terrorism Index Report 2015, Boko Haram, which operates mainly in Nigeria, has become the most deadly terrorist group in the world. This month marks the second anniversary of the kidnapping of 300 schoolgirls in the village of Chibok. Two years later, the majority of the girls are still missing. Reportage Emerging Talent Danielle Villasana traveled to northeastern Nigeria to document the aftermath of Boko Haram violence.
See a gallery of her images on ABC News.
@Robin Hammond / Witness Change
Nigeria, April 2014
A posed posed portrait of Buje (not his real name) who is gay. In December 2013 he was taken from his home by a vigilante group aligned to Bauchi City Sharia Courts who suspected him of being gay. They slapped him and beat him with electric cables. He was held in prison for over 40 days. He made several appearances at the Sharia Court. After being beaten in prison he confessed to committing homosexual acts. He was lashed 15 times with a horse whip as a punishment. Sodomy is punishable by death under Sharia Law but requires four witnesses. Since Nigeria’s president signed a harsh law criminalizing homosexuality throughout the country, arrests of gay people have multiplied, advocates have been forced to go underground, some people fearful of the law have sought asylum overseas and news media demands for a crackdown have flourished.
From: ROBIN HAMMOND ON CREATING A WORLD WHERE LOVE IS NEVER ILLEGAL
Bayo Ohu, The Guardian
September 20, 2009, in Lagos, Nigeria
Ohu, 45, an assistant news editor for the influential private dailyThe Guardian, was shot by unidentified assailants as he answered a knock at the front door of his house in a northern suburb of Lagos. The six assailants took a laptop and cell phone, according to the journalist’s relatives and local news reports.
Ohu was preparing to head to church to meet his wife, and two of his five children were home at the time, local journalists told CPJ. Neighbors drove him to a local hospital, but staff refused to treat him because he was not accompanied by police, journalists and news reports said. He died before neighbors could get him to another hospital, local journalists told CPJ.
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Nigeria is #13 on CPJ’s 2015 Impunity Index, which calculates the number of unsolved journalist murders as a percentage of each country’s population. This month CPJ is highlighting cases from each of the 14 countries on the list ahead of the International Day to End Impunity on November 2.
With five unsolved murders, Nigeria holds a place on CPJ’s Impunity Index for the third year in a row. At least two journalists have been killed by individuals affiliated with Boko Haram, according to CPJ research, while others, like prominent news editor Bayo Ohu, were killed in connection with their reporting on local politics. Ohu was shot at his front door in 2009; in 2012, three suspects were acquitted of the crime after police failed to present any evidence. Nigeria has failed to respond to requests by the director-general of UNESCO, the U.N. agency mandated to promote press freedom, for the judicial status of this and several other journalist killings. In June 2015, CPJ wrote to then-President-elect Muhammadu Buhari asking him to depart from his predecessor, Goodluck Jonathan, by making the prosecution of killers of journalists a priority.
IMPUNITY INDEX RATING: 0.028 unsolved journalist murders per million inhabitants
LAST YEAR: Ranked 12th with a rating of 0.030
A CPJ report on impunity.
Ateba, who has been living and working as an independent reporter in Lagos, Nigeria, for more than 10 years, was given a grant by the Abuja-based International Centre for Investigative Journalism to report on the living conditions of refugees in Cameroon and Chad.
Ateba was arrested on 28 August as he entered Cameroon’s Minawao refugee camp, which hosts about 50,000 Nigerians who have fled their homes due to the deadly insurgence of terror group Boko Haram. He was arrested after authorities claimed he did not have an official permit to enter the camp and suspected he was working as a spy for Boko Haram, whose militants also carry out attacks in northern Cameroon.
Photo: Simon Ateba / Facebook
Connecting from Lagos with Nigerian Photographer @andrewesiebo
To see more of Andrew’s photographs, follow @andrewesiebo on Instagram.
The Internet was new and very expensive in Lagos, Nigeria, when aspiring young photographer Andrew Esiebo (@andrewesiebo) attempted his online search for a mentor. “I was only able to afford a minute to do the Internet search,” he says. But in that brief moment, he connected with Paul, a photographer and blogger in Minneapolis, Minnesota — and began a correspondence that continues to this day. “Back then, I would take pictures with my film camera, scan them and email to Paul for his feedback. And at some point, he sent me books with titles on light, camera equipment, the business of photography and darkroom processing. I studied those books religiously and acquired the confidence to be more creative and skillful with my camera.” Almost 15 years later, Andrew’s photographs have been exhibited and published around the world, and he continues to post to the Internet to fill “global visual representation gaps” about his homeland. He adds, “Lagos is a city of contrasts. There’s slums and posh areas, congestions and tranquilities, tension and calm, hopes and despairs. There’s spaces for everybody in the city.”
At least four journalists have been attacked in Nigeria, and one forced to flee his state, in the past week, according to news reports and one of the journalists.
Security forces are the most frequent perpetrators of violations against the press, according to the Lagos-based International Press Centre, which found that Nigerian police and security forces were responsible for 24 of at least 32 cases of attacks on journalists between November 2014 and February this year. No one has been brought to justice, the IPC said. CPJ has also documented physical attacks, threats, and intimidation of local and international journalists seeking to cover the news.
Image: Akintunde Akinleye
Nigeria should allow international journalists entry to cover elections
Nigeria’s presidential and parliamentary elections are scheduled for February 14, while state elections are set for February 28. President Goodluck Jonathan is seeking re-election amid an insurgency by the radical Islamist group Boko Haram, which has taken over territory in the country’s northeast. International observers have called on Nigeria to ensure a free and fair election, while some analysts have warned of low turnout amid fears of violence, according to news reports.
Images: REUTERS/Akintunde Akinleye
Requirements from Nigeria’s broadcast regulator that radio and television stations nationwide should give notice of any live transmission of political programs has angered some journalists and raised questions about implementation.