The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has called on Nigerian authorities to investigate reports that dozens of journalists were assaulted, harassed, and detained while covering cost-of-living protests, which began on August 1.
CPJ said in a statement that it was investigating multiple incidents including one in the capital Abuja on August 3, where masked security forces fired bullets and teargas at several journalists wearing “Press” vests and their media-branded cars at the national stadium.
Attacks on the press have been reported across the country since July 31, including by unidentified assailants who smashed the windows of a Channels Television-branded bus carrying 11 journalists and a car carrying two journalists in the northern city of Kano and others who assaulted journalists while they were reporting in southern Delta State, as well as police arrests of reporters in Maiduguri in northeastern Borno State.
“Nigerian authorities must identify and hold accountable all those responsible for shooting at, attacking, harassing, and arresting numerous journalists while covering the #EndBadGovernance protests,” said Angela Quintal, head of CPJ’s Africa program, in New York. “The Nigerian public and the world deserve to be informed about the nationwide protests, but too often, journalists covering demonstrations are met with violence. Nigerian security forces must prioritize the safety of the press.”
Abuja police spokesperson Josephine Adeh told CPJ via messaging app that police did not carry out any attacks on the media. Delta State police spokesperson Bright Edafe told CPJ by phone that police in the state had not received any official complaints about attacks on the press.
CPJ is working to confirm whether the journalists that it interviewed filed police complaints.
CPJ’s calls to Borno State Commissioner for Information Usman Tar and Kano State police spokesperson Abubakar Zayyanu Ambursa requesting comment went unanswered.
GIK/APA