Nigeria

2012

  
This cover story led to the arrest of two journalists in Nigeria. (Al-Mizan)

Journalists detained in Nigeria for more than two days

Abuja, Nigeria, December 26, 2012–Nigerian authorities must immediately release two journalists who have been detained since Monday and allow a third journalist who has fled into hiding to return to his home and work freely, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. In pre-dawn raids on Monday, about 40 armed security agents arrested Aliyu Saleh,…

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(Ozioma Ubabukoh)

Nigerian reporter stopped from filing on governor’s health

Abuja, Nigeria, December 18, 2012–State security agents in Southeast Nigeria blocked a reporter from filing a story Saturday evening about the status of a governor who hasn’t been seen for several months. The Committee to Protect Journalists today condemned this act of crude censorship. At about 11:30 p.m. local time Saturday, seven plainclothes men accosted…

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Journalist deaths spike in 2012 due to Syria, Somalia

Syrian violence contributed to a sharp rise in the number of journalists killed for their work in 2012, as did a series of murders in Somalia. The dead include a record proportion of journalists who worked online. A CPJ special report

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Kazeem Ibrahym of The Nation is the latest journalist to be attacked in Akwa Ibom state. (Premium Times)

Nigerian journalist assaulted by governor’s security staff

Abuja, December 10, 2012–Authorities in Nigeria must immediately investigate Sunday’s attack on a journalist by a state governor’s security operatives and bring the perpetrators to justice, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

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Two journalists were detained for attempting to visit Gao, a town that Al-Qaeda-linked militants have seized. (AFP/Issouf Sanogo)

Al-Jazeera journalists detained in Mali for two days

New York, December 5, 2012–Malian authorities should immediately return the passports and equipment seized from two international Al-Jazeera journalists who were detained for more than two days over the weekend for attempting to cross into militant-controlled territory, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

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(Abubakar Sadiq Isah)

Nigerian journalist attacked by unidentified men in Kwali

Lagos, Nigeria, November 15, 2012–The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns an attack on a Nigerian journalist on Saturday and calls on authorities to find the perpetrators and bring them to justice. Three unidentified men attacked Abubakar Sadiq Isah, a reporter for the Daily Trust, outside the town hall in Kwali, a local government area in Abuja,…

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Activists press for secession from Cameroon on October 1. (Le Messager)

Journalist faces unlawful assembly charge in Cameroon

New York, November 8, 2012–The Committee to Protect Journalists today called on Cameroonian officials to drop criminal charges against a journalist arrested last month in the southwestern town of Buea for covering a secessionist gathering. The journalist is free on bail but faces a fine and up to six months in jail.

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(Desmond Utomwen)

Nigerian journalist wins landmark court victory

“If a journalist can’t fight for his own right, then he has no responsibility to fight for others,” Desmond Utomwen, a senior correspondent with TheNews Magazine/PM News, told me after a High Court judge on October 4 awarded him 100 million naira (US$637,000) in special damages from the Nigeria Police Force and Guarantee Trust Bank…

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In Nigeria, Boko Haram threatens attacks on media

A radical militant Islamist group released an 18-minute video on May 1, 2012, that threatened attacks on at least 14 local and international news outlets, according to news reports. In the video, Boko Haram, a group seeking the imposition of Sharia law in northern Nigeria, accused the outlets of biased reporting and crimes against Islam…

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CNN offices in Nigeria harassed by men in plainclothes

Armed men in plainclothes raided the offices of CNN in the commercial capital of Lagos on January 16, 2012, amid nationwide protests over hikes in fuel prices, according to local journalists and news reports.

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2012