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Piqued by the incessant arrests, harassment and intimidation of journalists, the International Press Centre (IPC) has condemned the act and demanded immediate release of a reporter presently being held incommunicado by security operatives.
Citing the recent harassment of an Ebonyi State-based journalist and the abduction of a reporter in Kaduna State, it said the renewed assault on press freedom in the country was evident in the harassment of Chijioke Agwu in Ebonyi and abduction of Adamu Musa in Kaduna State.
In a statement issued by its Programme Manager, Stella Nwofia, Executive Director of IPC, Lanre Arogundade, condemned the onslaught on Agwu during a media briefing at Government House, Abakaliki.
He was reportedly whisked away by the Chief Security Officer (CSO), who was said to have acted on the instructions of Governor David Umahi.
The statement disclosed that Agwu was being hounded following Umahi’s discontent over a feature story he wrote on Lassa fever outbreak in the state and published on April 18, 2020.
Also condemning the abduction of Musa of the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN) in Kaduna on April 18, 2020, he appealed to the Nigeria Police authorities to do all within their powers to secure Musa’s freedom