Festus Ogun a lawyer in equity and human rights activist had this to say in the wake of attacks on press freedom and consequent restriction of Peoples Gazette, an online newspaper in Nigeria.
In every civilized and democratic society, the government is not empowered to take law into its hands by resorting to executive lawlessness in driving home their grievances.
He said in the words of Christopher Dodd, “When the public’s right to know is threatened, and when the rights of free speech and free press are at risk, all of the other liberties we hold dear are endangered”.
Access to the website of the online newspaper, Peoples Gazette, has been outrightly restricted in what looks a coordinated attack from the Nigerian government which was orchestrated by mobile telecommunication companies including MTN, Glo, and 9mobile.
Somehow, the news of the clampdown came as a rude shock but was not in any way surprising. In 2020 alone, for instance, not less than 51 cases of journalists and bloggers unlawful arrests, detention, assaults, threats, and seizure of equipment were reported. Generally, in the last five years, the atmosphere has been increasingly dangerous and toxic for journalists and media practitioners.
To be clear, the disruption of Peoples Gazette website is illegal, unconstitutional, arbitrary and unjustifiable in a democratic society. By virtue of Section 39 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (amended 2011), the right to freedom of expression and the press is guaranteed as a sacred right that cannot be whimsically derogated without lawful justification.
In fact, Nigeria has an international obligation to guarantee, protect and respect the right to free speech and free press. Under Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 1984 and Article 9 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, 1986, press freedom and media rights are abundantly guaranteed and protected.
Interestingly, our Court in the case of State v. Ivory Trumpet Publishing Co. Limited (1984) 5 NCLR 736 held in clear terms that the “freedom of the press is a bulwark of democracy. The Nigerian Constitution has, in fact, obligated the press to uphold the responsibility and accountability of the government to the people”. I make bold to say that democracy dies the day the liberty of the press becomes brutally suppressed.
Therefore, the attack on the website of Peoples Gazette is a naked abuse of power, show of dictatorship and an unpardonable assault on media freedom in Nigeria. The Federal Government has no such right in law to shut down the website of a media platform without making any recourse to the court.
In another breath, the assault on the media rights of Peoples Gazette is not entirely baffling because the government of President Muhammadu Buhari has been very allergic to critical voices. And it is no news that Peoples Gazette is a distinguished news platform that has been consistent in exposing massive corruption, bad governance, nepotism, maladministration and other undemocratic tendencies ongoing in this administration.
Thus, illegally delisting Peoples Gazette website points the accusing finger to a government that stops at nothing in gagging courageous voices that stand for the people and against the inefficiency of the authorities.
At this juncture, it is important that all patriots rise in defence of press freedom. For a government to shut down the website of a reputable media platform without any sense of shame or recourse to the courts symptomizes a full descent to tyranny.
Instructively, Nigerians must resist any form of intimidation shown towards the press. God forbid, in a situation where the government is allowed to get away with this heinous constitutional infraction and gross misconduct, the liberties of all citizens are gone for good. So, we must collectively demand for the immediate and unconditional reactivation of Peoples Gazette website to avert a perilous precedent.
Reviewed by Mgbara Zion Barisuka
on
February 02, 2021
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