According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, in the entirety of 2019, 50 journalists and media workers all over the world have been killed. Today, 64 journalists who had the courage to report on the truth are missing in action. The attack on journalism and the free press has reached new heights in recent years in autocratic, communist, and oftentimes democratic nations. Even United States President Donald Trump refers to the media and press as the “enemy of the American people.”

Nigeria, although different from the United States, shares the overlapping concerns about freedom of expression and the press. Since achieving democracy in 1999, Nigerian journalists have faced persecution, and worst, death, for speaking out against leaders in their national government. Most recently, Omoyele Sowore, who is a resident of the United States in New Jersey and founder of Sahara Reporters, was arrested in August on charges of treason, money laundering, and ultimately, organizing a protest against President Muhammadu Buhari. Sowore has always been vocal through Sahara Reporters, his New York-based news publication, specializing in corruption and political misconduct in Nigeria. Sowore also ran for president against Muhammadi Buhari in 2019.

Recently, Sowore has been rearrested in a high court in the capital city of Abuja by the Department of State Services (DSS), despite granting bail in October. Even after being granted bail, Sowore was re-arrested and kept in detention. Word has not surfaced about why Sowore has been arrested and detained once again.

For some, especially those living in the United States, the violent attacks on press freedom come as a shock. However, Victor Modo, an award-winning photographer, photojournalist, and undergraduate student of mass communications at the University of Benin, expresses his reaction and mirrors the view of many Nigerian citizens following Sowore’s rearrest in an interview with The New Voice saying, “I expected this. The Buhari administration does not respect court orders and never has.”

The moment DSS re-arrested Omoyele Sowore after desecrating the court and chasing judge out of the courtroom with guns. pic.twitter.com/FMhJSl1W1E — ngozi clara (@ngoziclara) December 6, 2019

Modo has always felt that as a journalist and politically vocal person, he has the duty to communicate the truth. He spoke on the fact that violent attacks on freedom of the press in Nigeria are not a new occurrence stating, “Press freedom has always been an issue in Nigeria. Journalists all over have been kept in custody.” Between 1992 and 2019, 11 Nigerian journalists have been killed.

For many journalists in Nigeria, the importance of the press has grown with the violence demonstrated at the hands of the DSS. When asked to speak about his feelings as a citizen and as an outspoken journalist in Nigeria, Modo stated, “As long as it is not me being caught, I will speak up as much as I can. It is the job of the press to communicate truthfully.”

Around the world, journalism is under attack by government corruption and oppressed by silencing systems. When asked to comment on the larger implications the attacks on press freedom have on the world, Modo elaborated, “The press should not be hounded on. If an administration cannot handle the heat of the press, then they have no responsibility being in office. If they can’t handle this and continue to suppress us, we are back in a dictatorship. Under the Buhari administration, we are in a dictatorship. ”

Advertisements

Share this: Facebook

Twitter



Leave this field empty if you're human: