The
International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has today condemned
the kidnapping of OLubunmi Oke, a television journalist in Nigeria. According to the Nigerian
Union of Journalists (NUJ), an IFJ affiliate, the reporter and
presenter with the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA), her baby and maid were
taken Thursday March 21 by four men who blocked her car as she was leaving her
office in Akure, the capital of Ondo state (South West). Her baby and maid were
released later while the car was found in another town. The reason of the
kidnapping is unknown.
“We are deeply concerned by the kidnapping of
our colleague. We call on security forces to do their best to ensure her safe
return. We stand in solidarity with her family and colleagues,” said Gabriel
Baglo, IFJ Africa director.
The
IFJ raises concern about the personal security of journalists in this context
of violence in some parts of the country. On 26 April 2012, two suicide car bombs
targeted offices of Nigerian newspaper This Day in Abuja and a Media house in
Kaduna. Arrests of journalists are also
frequent. On 24 December 2012, journalists Musa Muhammad Awwal and Aliyu Saleh
from weekly Al-Mizan, a Hausa-language newspaper, were arrested and
detained by the security forces without clear charges. They have since been released. The journalist Ikechukwu Udendu, editor of Anambra News , a monthly newspaper,
was shot dead on Saturday 12 January 2013 by unknown persons.
“We call on journalists to have personal
safety protocol and ask authorities to bring to court all perpetrators of attacks
against journalists,” Baglo added.
For
more information please contact: +221 33 867 95 86/87
The IFJ represents more than 600.000
Journalists in 134 countries in the World