Daily News

Lagos, Nigeria, September 17, 2012--State security agents in the Gambia on Friday ordered two independent newspapers to cease publication immediately but provided no explanation, according to local journalists and news reports.

Agents from the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) in the capital, Banjul, visited the offices of the daily The Standard and the paper Daily News, which publishes three times a week, and told them that the president had ordered both papers to be shut down immediately, according to news reports. The agents told the staff that they could seek an explanation from the president's office, which oversees the operations of the NIA, news reports said. The officials did not specify how long the suspension would last.

Abuja, Nigeria, June 25, 2012--The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on the Gambian authorities to immediately release or charge a journalist who has been in detention without charge longer than the country's limit of 72 hours.

Abdulhamid Adiamoh, the managing editor of the Today newspaper, was arrested Wednesday in connection with an opinion article, "Counsel sidesteps issues in cross-examination of [vice chancellor of the University of The Gambia ] Professor Kah," in which he criticized a defense lawyer in the criminal trial of a former lecturer at the university.

New York, January 10, 2012--Police in Gambia are harassing a journalist for reporting farmers' complaints against a local official accused of mismanaging public resources, according to local journalists and news reports.