By Gift Olivia Samuel, The Sight News
ABUJA: The Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, has said that the President Muhammadu Buhari-led federal government is committed to bringing to an end undemocratic and uncultured activities against Journalists through the administration of legally justifiable approaches on the perpetrators in order to serve as deterrence to others.
Malami who said this on Tuesday at the 2022 International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists with the theme: “Media, Civil Society and Violence-free Election in Nigeria” holding from November 1-2, in Abuja, expressed dismay with reports of some forms of attacks on journalists and voters by suspected hoodlums during elections in some parts of the country.
He announced that the federal and some state governments have taken precautionary and proactive steps in taming the tides, adding also that the federal government has renewed commitment to end impunity for crimes against journalists.
According to him, “It is important to note that recent developments in Nigeria proved that the Federal Government has laudable initiatives to end impunity for crimes against Nigerian citizens.
“The 2020 global index for impunity for crimes against journalists by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), released on Wednesday 28th day of November 2020, indicated that Nigeria is the only country that came off the index from 2019.
“This achievement is not unconnected with deliberate and committed efforts of the President Muhammadu Buhari led Federal Government through the implementation of many reforms in the Nigerian justice sector to include increased access to justice, speedy justice dispensation, decongestion of Nigeria’s correctional centers and judicious implementation of the Criminal Justice Act”, he said.
He called on those involved in electioneering process to appreciate the fact that political activities are to be observed in accordance with the provisions of the Electoral Law, and to join hand in making sure that all campaign utterances are humane and in conformity with global best practices, thereby contributing to violence-free electoral process.
In the same vein, the Chairman, Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Mahmood Yakubu in a keynote address, noted that a free media may not be sufficient for democracy to survive and thrive, but it is an absolutely necessary condition.
Prof. Yakubu who was represented by National Commissioner, Mohammed Haruna, said the UN chose November 2 of every year as the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes Against Journalists as the day to reaffirm, recommit and reposition all efforts aimed at advancing the UN Plan of Action on the Safety of Journalists
He added that INEC is committed as both the conductor and regulator of Nigeria’s electoral system, in the freedom of journalists to do their work.
“As we head towards next year’s General Election beginning on February 25, it is important that everything possible is done to protect journalists from not only violence and crimes. It is also important that they are protected from any action that will impede them from doing their job of informing and educating the public on every aspect of the General Election in particular and our democracy in general”, he said.
Furthermore, he noted that “As we celebrate this year’s International Day to End Impunity for Crimes Against. Journalists, we should remember that, regardless of our profession, religion, region or ethnicity, we are all stakeholders in the country’s peace and progress.
“To date democracy is the best means of achieving those objectives. And so, journalists and non-journalists alike, each individual or group must play its own role so that next year’s General Election will yet be the best in our history and among the best in the world”, Yakubu said.
He, however, noted that while it is important that journalists are protected from anything that makes it impossible, or even merely difficult, to do their job, they [Journalists] on their part should acknowledge the need for them to act in the most responsible manner in the course of doing their job.
