A coalition of six leading Nigerian and international media rights organizations has issued a joint petition to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, demanding an immediate end to the harassment of journalists and the reform of laws used to criminalize reporting in Nigeria.
The letter, authored by the Media Rights Agenda (MRA), the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), and four other major watchdogs, serves as a sharp rebuttal to recent claims made by Vice President Kashim Shettima, who suggested that no journalists have faced harassment under the current administration.
Challenging the Narrative of Media Tolerance
The coalition expressed alarm over the Vice President’s assertion that the Tinubu administration maintains a high tolerance threshold. The organizations described this narrative as a grave indifference to documented reality, citing a relentless pattern of violent abuses, arrests, and illegal detentions by security forces since 2023.
“This mischaracterization conveys a grave indifference to the numerous and well-documented attacks on the press while you have been president, including violent abuses and arrests by Nigerian security forces,” the organizations stated in the joint letter.
The groups pointed to a stark discrepancy between the government’s rhetoric and the data collected on the ground. According to the Center for Journalism Innovation and Development (CJID), at least 231 attacks on the press have been verified since President Tinubu took office.
A Pattern of Violence and Impunity
The report details a harrowing year for Nigerian media. In 2024 alone, the International Press Centre (IPC) recorded 65 cases of attacks, ranging from physical assault and death threats to murder. The MRA’s 2025 annual report further highlighted 86 distinct incidents of press freedom violations across the federation.
The coalition specifically highlighted the #EndBadGovernance demonstrations in August 2024, during which the CPJ documented at least 56 journalists assaulted. In one instance, masked security forces reportedly fired live ammunition and tear gas at a group of 18 working reporters.
Beyond physical violence, the groups raised concerns over the judicial harassment of the press. They noted that authorities continue to use defamation and cybercrime charges to detain journalists without warning, creating an environment of fear.
Calls for Justice and Reform Ahead of 2027
The letter also revisited the tragic case of Onifade Emmanuel Pelumi, a journalist who died in police custody in 2020. Despite five years of pleading, the government has yet to return Pelumi’s body to his family, a failure the groups cited as a symbol of the prevailing culture of impunity.
With the 2027 general elections approaching, the coalition warned that political tension often triggers spikes in media suppression. They urged the President to move beyond calling the administration a friend of the media and instead take concrete action to protect the democratic space.
The signatories—including Angela Quintal (CPJ), Edetaen Ojo (MRA), Musikilu Mojeed (IPI Nigeria), Lanre Arogundade (IPC), Busola Ajibola (CJID), and Churchill Otieno (TAEF)—concluded by demanding the decriminalization of journalism through legislative reform and the prosecution of those responsible for past abuses.
Read more about the full letter: HERE
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