Press Freedom Monitors Condemn DSS Harassment Of IPC Boss, Other Journalists

Press Freedom and Safety of Journalists Field Monitors, (PFSJFM), has demanded a stop to the continued harassment of the Executive Director of International Press Centre (IPC), Comrade Lanre Arogundade and other journalists in the country by the Directorate of State Security Services (DSS) and other security agencies.

The demand is coming on the backdrop of alleged harassment of Mr. Arogundade who was on Thursday held at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport by operatives of the DSS for nearly two hours while returning from The Gambia where he had gone to conduct a training programme on ‘Conflict Sensitive Journalism’.

A statement signed by Rosemary Nwaebuni, S’South; Moses Ojo, S’West; Naomi Okoh, N’Central Elizabeth Achuagu, S’East; Bello Mujtaba Ramalan, North West and Abdulkareem Haruna, N’East, on behalf of the group, lamented that media professionals have become endangered species in the course of carrying out their constitutional responsibilities.

They frowned at the consistent attacks, intimidation, violence and sometimes killing of journalists by those whose responsibility it was to protect lives and property. “Such violence against journalists must stop”, they stressed.

Condemning the harassment of Mr. Arogundade, the monitors said that a senior official of the DSS had confirmed to the President of the Nigerian Guild of Editors that it was a case of mistaken identity, when he called to know why Arogundade was being detained.

However, Comrade Arogundade confirmed that it has become a reoccurring decimal as similar scenario happened when he was leaving for Gambia January 30, 2022, adding that he had to ask the DSS officers the reason why he was always subjected to such unnecessary harassment that almost made him miss his flights sometimes.

The Monitors therefore demanded a stop to all these harassment on the Executive Director of IPC (Arogundade) and other journalists in the country, even as they called on the Director-General of DSS to carry out adequate training for his officers and provide adequate information management mechanism to avoid undue embarrassment of media practitioners other citizens and ridiculing of the organization.

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They also demanded unreserved apology from the DSS to Arogundade for confiscating his cellphone and other harassments meted to him while he was detained last Thursday.