Media Rights Agenda, MRA, has filed a suit at the ECOWAS Community Court of Justice in Abuja over failure of the Federal Government to investigate and prosecute killers of 11 journalists between 1998 and 2019.
In the suit filed yesterday, MRA is also asking the court to direct
government to pay the families of each of the journalists N10 million as
reparation.
The suit filed by Abuja-based lawyer, Darlington Onyekwere, along
with Chioma Nwaodike, Obioma Okonkwo and Sideeq Rabiu, MRA
claimed that despite the Nigerian government’s obligations under
various domestic, regional and international instruments, it failed or
refused to investigate and prosecute the killers of the journalists, while
they were exercising their fundamental right to freedom of expression
and of the press.
The journalists that were reportedly killed include The Guardian
newspaper’s Ogun State Bureau Chief, Tunde Oladepo killed on
February 26, 1998; Publisher of Newsservice magazine, Okezie
Amauben, killed on September 2, 1998; a freelance journalist with The
Guardian, Fidelis Ikwuebe, murdered on April 18, 1999; Sam Nimfa-Jan
of Details magazine in Jos, Plateau State, killed on May 27, 1999; and
Samson Boyi, a photojournalist with the Adamawa State-owned
newspaper, The Scope, killed on November 5, 1999.
The others are Bayo Ohu, an assistant news editor with The Guardian,
shot on September 20, 2009; Nathan Dabak, Sunday Bwede, Zakariya
Isa, Enenche Akogwu, and Precious Owolabi, a National Youth Service
Corps member serving with Channels Television.
