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Makinde moves against indiscriminate waste disposal in Oyo

Nneoma BENSON
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Makinde moves against indiscriminate waste disposal in Oyo

GOVERNOR Seyi Makinde of Oyo State has moved against indiscriminate disposal of waste and erection of houses on flood plains in order to ensure an attitudinal change for better hygiene in the state.

This was made known on Tuesday by the state Commissioner for Environment and Natural Resources, Kehinde Ayoola, at a press conference organised by the ministry to sensitise the public on the hazard of poor sanitation.

“The problem of indiscriminate waste disposal, the building of houses on flood plains, with the tendency of all the foregoing even being aggravated by the universal menace of global warming and climate change,” he said.

Ayoola announced the governor’s approval of the establishment of four environment tribunals for the enforcement of the state’s environmental laws.

The tribunals, according to him, are to ensure a clean environment for the people of the state and are to be inaugurated soon by the governor.

He mentioned that the vulnerability of the state capital, Ibadan, to the river and urban flooding is induced by the city’s topography, hence the state’s implementation of the Ibadan Urban Flood Management Project (IUFMP)

“It is in the light of this that the government of the day in Oyo State has expressed its unreserved commitment to the full implementation of the Ibadan Urban Flood Management Project, the State-owned flood risk mitigation project with funding and technical assistance from the World Bank,” he said.

The commissioner said the proposed channelisation of major rivers and water channels in Ibadan under the IUFMP scheme is being processed and would commence soon.

“These include river Ona, Agodi Channel, river Ogbere, Kudeti channel etc. When completed, these massive channels, which are in the mould of the popular Ogunpa channel, would boost the flood-water runoff draining capacity of the city,” he said.

He further underscored the need for the indigenes to fulfil their sides of the bargain, to actualise all listed efforts to combat poor sanitation in the state.

“Our people are required now, more than before, to clear their surrounding and street drain channels, avoid dumping waste improperly, ensure that each household keeps a dustbin and patronise government-approved waste disposal contractors, avoid floodplains, obtain building approvals from relevant statutory bodies before commencing building, among others,” Ayoola said.

Nigeria’s economy shaky as FG reviews crude oil benchmark from $60 to $55 per barrel

Amos ABBA
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Nigeria’s economy shaky as FG reviews crude oil benchmark from $60 to $55 per barrel

NIGERIA’s Minister of Finance, Zainab Ahmed on Tuesday announced that the country’s crude oil benchmark which was initially pegged at $60 per barrel would be lowered to $55 per barrel to contain the effects of an unexpected price shock.

In a report, Ahmed stated that indicators were pointing to an oversupply of crude oil in the global market which is a major reason for the review of the nation’s oil price ceiling.

“There are strong indications of an oversupplied oil market next year and lowered price expectations for the country’s benchmark crude,” she said.

Ahmed agreed that a lowered forecast for Nigeria’s benchmark price to $55 per barrel from $60 per barrel, would in part help “to cushion against an unexpected price shock.”

Nigeria and the United States are major producers of sweet grades crude oil which is ideal for refining into petrol, but US oil exports increased from 260,000 barrels per day in June to a monthly record of 3.16 million barrels per day putting Nigeria’s oil exports sales in jeopardy.

In August, The ICIR announced Nigeria has its largest oversupply of crude oil in 2019 with an excess of 25 cargoes of crude oil that were unsold for that month as countries that patronised its  crude oil reduced their imports.

This current development bolstered by declining crude oil prices, in the global oil market will affect the federally generated revenue distributed across the three tiers of government as the 2019 approved budget implementation was to be sustained by the $60 per barrel crude oil sales.

Revenue from the Federation Account is shared between the three tiers of government with the Federal Government staking claim to 52.68 per cent, the 36 state governments share 26.72 per cent and 20.60 per cent is allotted to the 774 local governments.

Proceeds from oil constitute about 90 per cent of the country’s total revenue, however, the 2019 budget, signed by President Muhammadu Buhari in May, was based on oil production of 2.3 million barrels per day with an oil benchmark price of $60 per barrel.

Ahmed also hinted that Nigeria currently stands as Africa’s largest oil exporter producing about 2.3 million barrels per day of crude oil and condensates.

However, Nigeria, a signatory to the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), agreement to cut its supply of crude oil production to 1.685 million barrels per day, indicating it has failed to meet OPEC’s target.

OPEC and a Russia led oil-producing nations formed an alliance tagged as OPEC+ which had agreed to cut down inventories and remove 1.2 million barrels per day of crude oil from global markets on January 1, 2019 in a bid to raise oil prices.

Despite this, Russia’s oil output in August  exceeded its quota under the OPEC+ agreements.

Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman, a son of the  Saudi king, and a long-time member of the country’s delegation to OPEC, in a news report, said the pillars of Saudi Arabia’s policy would not change and a global deal to cut oil production by 1.2 million barrels per day would be maintained.

He added that the so-called OPEC+ alliance, made up of OPEC and non-OPEC countries including Russia, would be in place for the long term.

Eritrea, North Korea, Turkmenistan…seven other countries dangerous to be a journalist in — CPJ

Rebecca Akinremi
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Eritrea, North Korea, Turkmenistan…seven other countries dangerous to be a journalist in — CPJ

THE Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has identified 10 countries that deploy sophisticated digital censorship, surveillance alongside imprisonment and harassment to silence independent journalism. 

The CPJ revealed the list of the ten most censored countries in a special report published on Tuesday.

Eritrea was ranked the first country that represses independent journalism, followed by North Korea and Turkmenistan.

Other countries that made the list of the anti-free press were Saudi Arabia, China, Vietnam, Iran, Equatorial Guinea, Belarus, and Cuba.

The CPJ’s ranking was based on the findings of research it had conducted into the censorship tactics used by authoritarian governments.

These tactics range from imprisonment, repressive laws to surveillance of journalists and restrictions on internet and social media access.

CPJ listed more tactics that these governments use to restrict press freedom to include the existence of criminal defamation or “false news” laws, digital and physical surveillance of journalists.

Other measurements were the blocking of news websites, restrictions on privately-owned media, exclusion of foreign correspondents, and targeted hacking or trolling campaigns.

 

 

“These countries flout international freedom of expression norms and guarantees by jailing reporters, using the state media as a mouthpiece for the regime, and forcing independent journalists into exile,” the report read.

The report mentioned that China, Saudi Arabia, Vietnam and Iran make use of sophisticated surveillance technology and targeted online campaigns to silence independent press.

“The internet was supposed to make censorship obsolete, but that hasn’t happened. Many of the world’s most censored countries are highly wired, with active online communities,” said CPJ Executive Director Joel Simon

“These governments combine old-style brutality with new technology, often purchased from Western companies, to stifle dissent and control the media.

“Censorship is alive and well,” he said.

Court orders permanent forfeiture of Diezani’s $40m jewelries, iPhone

Nneoma BENSON
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Court orders permanent forfeiture of Diezani’s $40m jewelries, iPhone

ON Tuesday, the Federal High Court in Lagos ordered the permanent forfeiture of the 2,149 pieces of jewellery and customised iPhone, valued at $40million recovered from the former Minister of petroleum resources, Diezani Alison-Madueke.

While ruling, Justice Nicholas Oweibo held that Diezani, through her lawyer, Awa Kalu (SAN), failed to give reasons why the items should not be permanently forfeited to the Federal Government.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) had informed the judge that the jewellery and iPhone were sensibly suspected to be procured with fraud proceeds, stating that it was beyond Diezani’s legitimate earnings.

The ICIR reported that the court in July ordered the temporary forfeiture of pieces of jewellery and a customized gold iPhone belonging to Alison-Maduke.

The Commission secured the interim forfeiture of the items  following an ex parte application it filed.

In granting the order, Justice Oweibo directed the EFCC to publish the interim forfeiture order in any national newspaper within 14 days for the respondent or anyone interested in the items to show cause why they should not be permanently forfeited to the Federal Government.

‘Do not do it, you will suffocate me’—shocking recordings from Khashoggi’s last moments

Jennifer UGWA
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‘Do not do it, you will suffocate me’—shocking recordings from Khashoggi’s last moments

AFTER almost one year, audio recordings of the horrifying conversations between the 15-man Saudi hit squad and their victim, Jamal Khashoggi, Washington Post journalist, has been revealed to the public for the first time by the Turkish authorities.

Daily Sabah, a Turkish newspaper on Monday shared one of the recordings prior to and during the October 2, 2018 murder of the dissident journalist at the kingdom’s Istanbul consulate.

Khashoggi was killed and dismembered by a group of Saudi operatives in the country’s consulate in Istanbul on October 2, 2018 after he arrived at the consulate building to complete marriage procedures.

The newspaper revealed that the audios were obtained by Turkey’s National Intelligence Organization (MIT) right after the gruesome incident, and were shared with related Turkish authorities carrying out an investigation into the incident, as well as with international officials and institutions.

One of the recordings of the conversations between Maher Abdulaziz Mutreb, the number two man of the hit squad, and Salah Muhammed Al-Tubaigy, the head of Forensic Evidence at the Saudi General Security Department who was in charge of dismembering Khashoggi’s body was are stamped 1:02 p.m., just 12 minutes before Khashoggi arrived at the consulate building to complete marriage procedures.

In the recording, Mutreb is heard asking Al-Tubaigy if it was possible to put the body in a bag? to which Al-Tubaigy response was– “No. Too heavy, very tall too. Actually, I’ve always worked on cadavers. I know how to cut very well. I have never worked on a warm body though, but I’ll also manage that easily. I normally put on my earphones and listen to music when I cut cadavers.

“In the meantime, I sip on my coffee and smoke. After I dismember it, you will wrap the parts into plastic bags, put them in suitcases and take them out”.

The ensuing conversation had  Al-Tubaigy saying, “My superior at the Forensic Evidence does not know what I’m doing. There is no one to protect me.”

Few second late, Mutreb asks whether the “animal to be sacrificed” has arrived. At 1:14 p.m., while  an unidentified member of the hit squad says “(he) is here.”

Khashoggi is then ushered into the room by Mutreb.

According to the released recordings, Khashoggi is greeted by a familiar face or someone he knows, gauging from his reaction. He is told that the Consul General Mohammad al-Otaibi is also present in the building. First, he is politely invited into the consul’s office on the second floor. When he starts to get suspicious, he is pulled by the arm. He then says;”Let me go, what do you think you’re doing?”

“Please sit. We have to take you back [to Riyadh]. There is an order from Interpol. Interpol demanded you be returned. We are here to take you.”

However, the journalist said that there were no lawsuits against him, telling his captors that his girlfriend was waiting for him outside.

Mutreb was later heard hassling the journalist to send a message to his son telling him that he was in Istanbul and not to worry as he won’t be able to reach him for a while.

“I shouldn’t say kidnapped?” Khashoggi was heard firing back at his murderers. “How can such a thing take place at a consulate? I’m not writing anything,” he kept insisting.

“Write it, Mr Jamal. Hurry up. Help us so we can help you because in the end, we will take you back to Saudi Arabia and if you don’t help us you know what will happen eventually,”  Mutreb said in response

“There is a towel here. Will you have me drugged? the journalist queried. “We will put you to sleep,” the henchman had said.

After he was drugged, Khashoggi says “do not keep my mouth closed. I have asthma. Do not do it, you will suffocate me.” These were Khashoggi’s last words.

He was later suffocated by his killers with a plastic bag.  Before Khashoggi gives his final breath, scuffling and suffocation sounds continued for a while. Then the postmortem phase begins, which include sounds of dismembering Khashoggi’s body with an autopsy saw for the next 30 minutes.

Agnes Callamard, the United Nations’ special rapporteur on extrajudicial executions, in her report stated that evidence suggests Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) and other senior Saudi officials were liable for Khashoggi’s murder and called for sanctions to be imposed on the kingdom.

Initially denying and later downplaying the incident as an accidental killing in a fistfight, Riyadh finally admitted almost three weeks after the disappearance that Khashoggi was murdered in a premeditated fashion but denied any involvement of the royal family.

 

Tribunal rules on presidential election petition on Wednesday

Jennifer UGWA
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Tribunal rules on presidential election petition on Wednesday

THE Presidential Election Tribunal has announced that it will deliver judgement on Wednesday on the petition filed by Atiku Abubakar, former Vice president and candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), against the election of Muhammadu Buhari, who flew the flag of the All Progressive Congress (APC).

The PDP and its candidate are seeking to nullify the election of president Muhammadu Buhari in the February 23 poll.

Buhari emerged winner of the 2019 election to beat Abubakar with a total of 15,191,847 votes, which represents 56.94 per cent of the total vote against the PDP candidate who scored 11,262, 978 (42.22 per cent).

However, the PDP insists that the elections were marred by irregularities and is asking the tribunal to declared Abubakar as the duly elected president.

The European Union  Election Observer Mission in its report on the election also said the 2019 elections were marked by severe operational and transparency shortcomings, electoral security problems and low turnout.

Boko Haram: Thousands of children held in military detention – Report

Olayinka SHEHU
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Boko Haram: Thousands of children held in military detention – Report

THE Nigerian military is holding thousands of children in horrific conditions in detention camps on suspicion of being members of the dreaded insurgent group, Boko Haram, Human Right Watch (HRW) said in a report released today.

HRW said children are held without charge for months or years in squalid and severely overcrowded military barracks, with no contact with the outside world.

It said some were arrested at age five years, with some spending years in military detention.

The 50-Page-report which was made available to The ICIR, titled “They didn’t know if I was alive or dead: Military Detention of children for suspected Boko Haram involvement in Northeast Nigeria”, documents how the Nigerians authorities are detaining children, often based on little or no evidence.

HRW in its report, recommended that Nigerian authorities should immediately release children currently in military custody

The report further stated that children described beating, overwhelming heat, frequent hunger and being packed tightly in their cells with hundreds of other detainees like razor-blades in a pack, as one former detainees said.

The body’s  Advocacy Director, Children’s Rights Division, Jo Becker, during a chat with newsmen in Abuja on Tuesday said “children are being detained in horrific conditions for years, with little or no evidence of involvement with Boko Haram, and without even being taken to court”.

According to her, many of these children already survived attacks by Boko Haram. The authorities’ cruel treatment adds to their suffering and victimises them further, she observed.

https://www.facebook.com/TheICIR/videos/1121423841384297/

“The Nigerian government should sign and put into effect a United Nations handover protocol to ensure the swift transfer of children apprehended by the military to child protection authorities for rehabilitation, family reunification, and community reintegration. Other countries in the region, including Chad, Mali, and Niger, have already signed such protocols.”

Between January 2013 and March 2019, Nigerian armed forces detained over 3,600 children, including 1,617 girls, for suspected involvement with non-state armed groups, according to the UN. Many are detained at Giwa military barracks in Maiduguri, the main military detention facility in Borno State.

“In June 2019, Human Rights Watch interviewed in Maiduguri 32 children and youth who had been detained as children at Giwa barracks for alleged involvement with Boko Haram. None of the children said they were taken before a judge or appeared in court, as required by law, and only one saw someone who he thought may have been a lawyer. None were aware of any charges against them. One was detained when he was only 5 years old.”

“Nigerian authorities arrested the children during military operations, security sweeps, and screening procedures for internally displaced people, and based on information from informants. Many of the children said they were arrested after fleeing Boko Haram attacks on their village or while seeking refuge at camps for internally displaced people. One said he was arrested and detained for more than two years for allegedly selling yams to Boko Haram members.”

She also said girls abducted by Boko Haram and forced to become Boko Haram members’ wives, were being maltreated and facing discrimination from soldiers and their communities.

“Approximately one-third of the children interviewed said security forces beat them during interrogation after their arrest or at Giwa barracks.”

Quoting from a detainee, Becker said, “One girl who was forced to marry a Boko Haram member said that after soldiers captured her, “the soldiers were beating us with their belts, calling us names and telling us they will deal with us because we are Boko Haram wives. Others said they were beaten if they denied association with Boko Haram.”

She continues, “Children described sharing a single cell, approximately 10-by-10 meters, with 250 or more detainees. They said the stench from a single open toilet was often overwhelming and that detainees sometimes fainted from the heat. In Maiduguri, the average annual maximum temperature is 35 degrees Celsius and temperatures can exceed 40 degrees.”

“Nearly half of the children said they saw dead bodies of other detainees at Giwa barracks. Many said they suffered frequent thirst or hunger.”

“Fifteen of the children had been detained for more than a year, and some had been held for more than three years. None had been allowed to contact family members outside the detention center, nor had the authorities contacted their families. Such cases may constitute enforced disappearances, a serious human rights violation.”

She further disclosed that the notorious Giwa Barracks in Borno State, has a holding cell for boys under 18 with children as young as 7, or even younger.

“Children said that Giwa has a cell for boys under 18 with children as young as 7, or even younger. The military also detains children in adult cells, where children said food and water were scarcer and conditions even more crowded. Very young children and babies are kept with their mothers and older girls in a separate cell. Three girls said they saw male soldiers making sexual advances toward female detainees or removing girls from the cell for long periods for what they believed was sexual exploitation.”

“The military provides no formal education or rehabilitation activities for children at Giwa. Children reported that their only activities were prayer, watching television, and informal lessons that some children provided for others. The overcrowded conditions made physical activity impossible, and some children said they developed sores from restricted movement.”

“Since January 2013, Nigerian authorities have released at least 2,200 children from detention, but we do not know the current number of children who may still be detained.  According to the UN, 418 children were detained in 2018, a significant decrease from 2017, when over 1,900 children were detained.”

“Following their release, some children said they suffered social stigma from presumed involvement with Boko Haram, even if they had no ties to the group. Nearly all said they wanted to go to school, but many said that available schools were too far away, or that they didn’t have money for transportation.”

“Nigerian authorities should immediately release children currently in military custody. If military or intelligence authorities have credible evidence of criminal offenses by children, they should transfer them to civilian judicial authorities to be treated in accordance with national and international juvenile justice standards.”

“Nigeria faces formidable challenges from the Boko Haram insurgency, but detaining thousands of children is not the answer,” Becker said. “Children affected by the conflict need rehabilitation and schooling, not prison.”

But the Nigeria Defence Headquaters in a statement released on  September 9, by Onyeama Nwachukwu, Acting Director of Defence Information, denied alleged detention of children in military facilities.

Nwachukwu, a Colonel said HRW report is not only false but capable of undermining the joint efforts of the armed forces and other security agencies to restore peace in the North East.

It said contrary to the allegations, the military actually manages children in the North East theatre as victims of war and not as suspects.

The statement reads, “It is an established fact that Boko Haram Terrorists (BHTs) indoctrinate women and children who they use as suicide bombers in the theatre of operations. In the conduct of their operations troops arrest these children while attempting to detonate explosives and provide tacit support to insurgents such as intelligence on troops movement and deployments.”

“Contrary to HRW claims however, the AFN manages children in the North East theatre as victims of war and not as suspects. Apprehended children are kept in secured places, where they are adequately fed, profiled and de-radicalized before their release.”

“This was evidently captured in the HRW Report, where it stated that “since January 2013, Nigerian Authorities have released at least 2,200 children from detention nearly all without charge. This statement further attests to the fact that the children are released to appropriate authorities after de-radicalization efforts by appropriate government agencies and NGOs.”

It is expedient to state that only profiled Boko Haram and ISWAP terrorists are held in detention pending their prosecution by appropriate prosecuting agencies, as the AFN is not vested with the power of prosecution. It is also necessary to clarify, that aside the set of children involved in acts of terrorism, some adult female Boko Haram terrorists arrested in terrorists’ enclaves during combat have also been found to be with children.”

 

 

 

 

Four months after first demonstration, FUOYE students protest again over lack of power

Editorial
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Four months after first demonstration, FUOYE students protest again over lack of power

By DANIEL Whyte

STUDENTS of the Federal University Oye-Ekiti (FUOYE), in Ekiti State on Tuesday again took to the street to protest the continuous lack of power supply which plagues the institution’s host communities, Oye-Ekiti and Ikole Ekiti.

A similar protest that took place on April 24 led to the temporary closure of the community’s electricity distribution office and blocking of the federal highway that runs through Oye-Ekiti and connects to Abuja.

Not seeing any changes after their first protest, the aggrieved students decided to demonstrate again on both of the university’s campuses till “a notable government official” attends to their request, said the Students’ Union Government (SUG) president, Oluwaseun Awodola.

Addressing the students, Awodola described the protest as “confrontational”.  He lamented that the students suffer as a result of frequent and long-term power outages which make them vulnerable to deadly attacks in the night while searching for where to charge their gadgets.

“The generality of Oye is suffering from poor power supply…our students are being molested in the night; our students are being gang-robbed in the night because we don’t have light,” the student leader said.

“Everywhere in FUOYE is dark. Our students keep charging at filling stations; if there is any deadly accident, more than 50 students will be gone. We don’t want mass death in FUOYE; what we want is stable power supply.”

Traffic on the federal highway in Oye-Ekiti was for hours, been at a standstill due to the students’ protest.

Speaking to this reporter, Adeyemo Tobi, a student of the university, said, “What we are really fighting for is good…when we check our result we see D, F, C… it is not good enough. If we have light we will be able to read a lot and pass excellently.”

Emmanuel Ayoadewole, a third-year student of Mass Communication, described the protest as a “good move”.

“That way, we are expressing our grievance and not being riotous. That way, the government will hear our cry because if we don’t come out like this, if we don’t do it this way, they won’t listen to us,” he said.

“Several times we have attempted protesting like this and, at the end of it, it yields to nothing; so this time, we are coming with a full force to tell them this is what we want.”

“It is not that we are trying to cause a riot,” he added, “but we are trying to make it public…to tell the government that we can’t continue like this.”

Speaking to reporters, the Public Relations Officer of the University, Godfrey Bakji, described the protest as “senseless”.

He said the students union ought to allow other activities to go on since the university isn’t in charge of power.

“You don’t disturb the university activities because you want to cry out to the government,” he said, adding that he hopes the protest “will yield results”.

Below are other photos from the demonstration

Students of FUOYE protesting against power outage at Oye-Ekiti and Ikole, two communities hosting their campuses. Photo Credit: DANIEL Whyte

Ondo professor found dead, four days after he was kidnapped

Rebecca Akinremi
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Ondo professor found dead, four days after he was kidnapped

GIDEON Okedayo, a senior lecturer and professor in the Department of Mathematical Science of Ondo State University of Science and Technology (OSUSTECH), Okiti-Pupa, who abducted on September 5, has been found dead.

The Chairman, Joint Action Committee of Staff Unions of OSUSTECH, Temidayo Temola confirmed Gideon’s demise on Tuesday.

His already decaying body was found on Monday, four days after he was abducted, in a bush where his abductors had kept him.

The don was kidnapped along with his driver by unknown gunmen at Akoko junction (Ondo State) on Auchi-Igara road while travelling to his hometown in Igara town of Edo State last Thursday.

He was in his official car, a Toyota Corolla marked 06X 47 OD, which was recovered by the Police on Saturday.

Gideon Okedayo was before his abduction and death a Professor and lecturer at the OSUSTECH. Image credit: Google/Sahara Reporters

 

The abducted driver had reported the case at the Igara Police Division upon his release.

The driver was set free by the gunmen after securing a deep cutlass cut in his right hand.

Reports have it that no ransom was demanded by the kidnappers till the university lecturer died in captivity.

 

Coalition condemns continued detention of journalist, Agba Jalingo in Cross River State

Olugbenga ADANIKIN
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Coalition condemns continued detention of journalist, Agba Jalingo in Cross River State

The Coalition for Whistleblowers Protection and Press Freedom (CWPPF), on Tuesday charged Ben Ayade, the Cross Rivers State Governor to respect constitutional roles of journalists in the state over the  continued prosecution and detention of Agba Jalingo, a Nigerian journalist.

The coalition in a statement issued jointly by all its 15 members also condemned the governor’s arbitrary disregard of the constitutional provisions on  press freedom and those that enable the media to  serve as watchdog and promote accountability of public officeholders.

“Nigerian journalists should not be charged with any trumped-up criminal offences for holding the government accountable; this is a constitutionally conferred responsibility,” the Coalition said.

“Such actions are absolute ridicule on the law and the freedom of expression, and the charges make absolute ridicule of the Nigerian Legal System.”

It lamented that the “increasing attacks on journalists encroach on the freedom of the press, adding that  “it behoves the government and other stakeholders to conscientiously work towards laws and provisions that will guarantee the safety and security of journalists in the line of duty and in holding the government accountable.”

Failure to do this, the Coalition stressed, “is a slight on any democratic society and a disservice to journalism, a profession that is fundamental to sustaining democracy.”

Agba Jalingo, the Publisher of Cross River Watch was arrested on the August 26 in Lagos State before he was moved to Cross River State and has since been charged with criminal offences.

On  August 28, the Committee for the Protection of Journalists (CPJ) demanded the release of the journalist as well as a stop to the continuous harassments of journalists reporting corruption cases in Nigeria.

The following week, he was charged by the Nigerian Police with terrorism for criticising Ayade.

Femi Falana, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) also challenged the state governor to charge the journalist for libel rather than using the apparatus of the state to harass political opponents.

Last Friday, he was arraigned at the Federal High Court, Calabar Judicial Division, on four count charges.

The charges were bordering on “acts of treason, treasonable felony, and threatening through various publications on crossriverwatch.com and social media, using malicious publications, instigating the people of Nigeria to stage protest for the removal of the Governor of Cross River State of Nigeria from office without due process of law and thereby committed an offence punishable under Section 41 of the Criminal Code Act, Cap C38, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004, Section 59 of the Criminal Code Act, Cap C38, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004, Section 17 of the Terrorism (Prevention Amendment) Act, 2013 and Section 1(2) (a) (b) of the Terrorism (Prevention Amendment) Act, 2013.”

The CWPPF, however, emphasised on the need for all relevant authorities to ensure justice is served in the case against Jalingo’s arrest and detention.

It stated that anyone or group of persons found complicit should be tried to the full extent of the law and prosecuted.

Meanwhile, the coalition noted that according to its press attack tracker, several cases of unlawful arrest and harassment of journalists from Cross River State have been reported stressing that four of the reports were directly linked to Ayade.

“This reflects poorly on the state and its government.

“CWPPF calls on the Commissioner of Police to intervene and see that this constant harassment in Cross River state is curbed. Holding the government accountable cannot and should not be considered an act of treason,” it stated.

Members of the Coalition included Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ), Premium Times, Sahara Reporters, OrderPaper, The Cable, Daily Trust Newspaper, Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism, Premium Times Centre for Investigative Journalism, African Centre for Media & Information Literacy (AFRICMIL), Civic Media Lab and Civil Society Network Against Corruption (CSNAC).

Other were International Centre for Investigative Reporting (ICIR), International Press Centre (IPC), Media Rights Agenda (MRA),  Paradigm Initiative, Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) and HEDA Resources Centre.

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