BY AFEEZ HANAFI Since Nigeria’s return to democracy in 1999, no fewer than 19 journalists have been killed – mostly in questionable circumstances. Daily Trust tracks some of these murders,
January 28, 2023 9:00 AMSince Nigeria’s return to democracy in 1999, no fewer than 19 journalists have been killed – mostly in questionable circumstances. Daily Trust tracks some of these murders, capturing the anguish of the victims’ families in search of justice.
“I am appealing to Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu to intervene so that Pelumi’s corpse will be released. They did a DNA test for me in 2021 at a government hospital in Ikeja to identify the corpse and promised to call me when the result is ready, but nobody called me since then,” Bose sobbed. Asked why the corpse has not been released, the Lagos state commissioner for information and strategy, Gbenga Omotosho, said “the mother can go to the Yaba mortuary with proof of evidence. She should go for the DNA result”.
MRA lamented that investigations and prosecution of the perpetrators were inconclusive. Bayo Ohu’s case is one of many.An Assistant News Editor with The Guardian, Bayo was shot dead in his home in the Egbeda area of Lagos one Sunday morning in 2009 – right before his then 10-month-old daughter, Modesodun, who is now 14.
After searching for justice for years to no avail, Blessing said she had decided to move on with life. “I went to church that day and barely 40 minutes after, I got a call. The person was screaming ‘come home.’ My baby was 10 months old then and I wondered what could have happened to her. As I was pondering over it, my little niece, who was staying with us, came and said armed robbers came to the house and shot my husband.
Neighbours who were alarmed by the gunshots that night reportedly caught some people suspected to have carried out the dastardly act. But that was all the family knew of the case 11 years after. She said, “I will never forget the day he was killed. It was October 22, 2011, around 7pm after the evening prayer. I was inside the house, nursing Hafsat and preparing dinner. I suddenly heard gunshots and was scared.“It was like a dream to me. He was buried the following day and then-Governor Kashim attended the burial. After his death, life became more difficult for us. I wanted to withdraw the children from school, but one of my late husband’s colleagues at NTA sponsored their education.
Gibson, now 22, grew up to know his father in photographs. He told our correspondent that his father’s untimely demise threw the family into a huge financial crisis. His education and that of his five siblings is stuck after secondary school. They are now into farming to fend for themselves and their mum.
According to the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists , 18 journalists were killed in Sierra Leone between 1992 and 2022 either while covering dangerous assignments or through targeted murder. The CPJ also noted that 2067 journalists were killed globally during the period, 934 of which were directly linked to reports done by the deceased. Sadly, of the 2067 killings, 2004 cases, representing about 97 per cent, remain unresolved.
“We opened fire, myself, Alieu Jen and Sana Manjang,” Lieutenant Malick Jatta said at the public hearing. “I am deeply concerned about the circumstances surrounding the death of Samuel Wazizi,” Audrey Azoulay, director-general of UNESCO, had said, calling on the authorities of Cameroon to investigate the death.Daily Trust reached out to the police public relations officers in Lagos, Adamawa and Borno to find out the current status of the cases tracked by this paper, but none of them could give updates for more than a week.
Efforts to speak to the Borno state police command PPRO, Mohammed Shatambaya, on Zakariyah’s case also proved abortive as he did not respond to phone calls and text messages.Meanwhile, the Committee for the Defence of Human Rights says there is a need for an overhaul of the country’s criminal justice system to ensure prompt prosecution and dispensation of justice.
He observed that too often, journalists in Nigeria experienced threat or violent attacks and in some cases killings, without those responsible being held accountable.
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