Court grants bail to Premium Times reporter as IPI wants FG to drop charge

The presiding Magistrate of Kubwa Grade 1 Magistrates’ Court , Abdulwahab Mohammed, on Friday granted bail to the Premium Times reporter, Samuel Ogundipe.

Ogundipe was arrested and detained on August 14 by police for failing to disclose source of his story.

But Ogundipe has regained temporary freedom just as the International Press Institute (IPI) asked the federal government to drop the charge against the reporter.

The police had on Thursday amidst public protest arraigned Ogundipe before the Magistrates’ Court with alleged “criminal trespass and theft of police documents, contrary to sections 352, 288 and 319 of the penal code.”

But the IPI on Friday in a statement berated the Federal Government for the arrest, detention and prosecution of Samuel Ogundipe, accusing the government of violating the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights and Article 66 of the Treaty of ECOWAS signed in Lagos in 1975, which requires member states to “ensure respect for the rights of journalists.”

While welcoming the release of Ogundipe on bail, IPI, a global network of editors, media executives and leading journalists, demanded that all charges against Ogundipe be dropped forthwith.

Ogundipe was arrested by Nigeria police on August 14 after his newspaper, the Premium Times, published a report sent by the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Ibrahim Idris to Acting President Yemi Osinbajo.

The report detailed the actions of the former Director General of the Department of State Security Service (DSS), Lawal Daura in relation to an incident in which SSS operatives blocked lawmakers from entering the National Assembly on August 7.

The police are demanding that Ogundipe reveal his sources for the IGP report.

The Premium Times also reported that Ogundipe was released yesterday morning after posting bail in the amount of N500,000 (around 1,215 euros).

The IPI Executive Director, Barbara Trionfi noted that, “The prosecution of Samuel Ogundipe is a form of harassment against a journalist who has been carrying out his work professionally and in full respect of the principles included in the Code of Ethics of the Nigerian Press Council.

“The confidentiality of sources is universally acknowledged both as a duty and a right of journalists, as it is a necessary precondition for journalistic work.”

She added: “International principles and treaties, including the 2002 Declaration of Principles on Freedom of Expression in Africa adopted by the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights in 2002 and which represents an important milestone for media freedom in Africa, sets clear obligations on African Union member states to guarantee the confidentiality of journalistic sources.

“In arresting and prosecuting Ogundipe, the Nigerian government has also violated Article 66 of the Treaty of ECOWAS signed in Lagos in 1975, which requires member states to “ensure respect for the rights of journalists,” Trionfi added.

She noted further that, “In June of this year, Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari, inaugurating the 67th IPI World Congress in Abuja, said that ‘good journalism promotes good governance’. He added: ‘In an environment where fake news dwarfs investigative reporting, good journalism matters’.

“Unfortunately,” the IPI Director added, “President Buhari’s words do not resonate in the actions of the police, and investigative journalism still faces great obstacles today in Nigeria,”

Adding that, “The article published by the Premium Times is an example of good investigative reporting. Nigerian officials should cherish this type of journalism and so send a clear message about their serious intention to fight corruption and wrongdoing in the country.”

The IPI said arresting journalists and asking them to disclose their sources has become a pattern in Nigeria, “In April 2013, two journalists of the LEADERSHIP newspaper: Tony Amokeodo and Chibuzor Ukaibe, were detained for several days after they refused to disclose their sources.

“In March of this year, Tony Ezimakor, Abuja bureau chief of the Independent, was arrested and pressed to reveal his sources after he reported about the government’s allegedly paying ransom to Boko Haram for the release of kidnapped girls. He was later released without any charges.

“The arrest of Ogundipe comes amid deepened scrutiny of press freedom in Nigeria. During the World Congress, IPI raised the case of Jones Abiri, editor of a weekly who had been in the custody of the security services for nearly two years without charges.

“The government accused Abiri of being a terrorist and denied that he was a journalist.

Thanks to pressure from IPI and other international press freedom organisations, along with reports published in the Nigerian media establishing that Abiri is a journalist, the security services produced him in court last month and he was released on bail on Wednesday.

“The magistrate hearing the case has cautioned the prosecution that the case against Abiri will be dismissed if it does not produce proof of evidence,” the IPI added.