In protest against the detention of their colleagues, journalists threaten to boycott national conference proceedings
An editor with the Sun newspaper, Iheanacho Nwosu, was on Wednesday arrested and detained for 30 minutes by operatives of the State Security Service, SSS.
Mr. Nwosu was held in one of the security rooms at the National Judicial Institute, venue of the ongoing National Conference.
The Sun newspaper had in its Wednesday edition published a story involving the exchange of blows by a police officer and an operative of the SSS at the venue of the Conference.
On Wednesday, Mr. Nwosu was going about his legitimate duties when some SSS operatives approached him and insisted he must follow them to offer explanation for the story published by his paper.
The operatives, who held the reporter, did not however fault the authenticity of the report but insisted that the agency was embarrassed by the way the story was reported.
One of the operatives, who addressed the detained journalist, reportedly said their superiors and top officials of the presidency queried them over the ugly incidence after reading the report.
Some delegates, who heard of Mr. Nwosu’s ordeal, kicked against the detention of the journalist and demanded that the SSS desists from further harassment of journalists in the country.
A delegate, Niyi Akintola, who raised a point of order when plenary resumed after the lunch break, warned that in a democratic dispensation, it was wrong for security operatives to infringe on the rights of journalists.
Mr. Akintola further warned that the era of abuse of human rights must not be revisited and those found culpable should be made to face the full weight of the law.
The point of order was unanimously supported by other delegates who condemned the action of the SSS operatives.
The Deputy Chairman of the Conference, Bolaji Akinyemi, warned security agencies to respect the rights of people who are going about their lawful duties.
A former National President of the Nigeria Union of Journalists, NUJ, Lanre Ogindipe, challenged the operatives for detaining the Sun reporter and warned them to stop further assault on the press.
Mr. Ogundipe, who bared his mind to the operatives at their post by the door of the plenary chamber, said the media have suffered enough in the hands of security agents in the country.
He said, “I am angry and I want to warn that I have serious interest in the way you treat journalists in this country. We own this country and it does not belong to any single individual or group and so people should be respected.”
Meanwhile, journalists covering the national conference have threatened to boycott the proceedings unless those who detained their colleague unlawfully were brought to book.
The journalists are also worried that if the act of impunity is not checked, SSS operatives and other security agents at the Conference might continue to unleash terror on them.
